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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23815426">Paper-MCU Steve Rogers and The Avengers HR Rep</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldeStone/pseuds/OldeStone'>OldeStone</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sam Wilson - Fandom, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Winter Soldier (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, MCU Alternate Universe - Freeform, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:28:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,177</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23815426</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldeStone/pseuds/OldeStone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
      <p>I enjoy reading fanfiction about Steve Rogers. He's such a fun character to manipulate into original works. This is an alternate universe, obviously, where nothing is truly discussed except their efforts to destroy HYDRA. This is one of my first times posting my fanfiction. Please give feedback and subscribe because this story is actually a long one and if you enjoy it, I hope you read all of it. There is underlying romance for a lot of it, but I'm nearing the point where it is more at the forefront of the story.</p>
    </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Steve Rogers/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I enjoy reading fanfiction about Steve Rogers. He's such a fun character to manipulate into original works. This is an alternate universe, obviously, where nothing is truly discussed except their efforts to destroy HYDRA. This is one of my first times posting my fanfiction. Please give feedback and subscribe because this story is actually a long one and if you enjoy it, I hope you read all of it. There is underlying romance for a lot of it, but I'm nearing the point where it is more at the forefront of the story.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You exited the town car FRIDAY was driving and saw Tony walking down the steps of the main building of the Avengers compound. He opened his arms up, looked over his shoulder at the place and looked at you. </p><p>“It’s impressive, Mr. Stark,” you said, smiling at him. You switched hands your briefcase was in and shook his hand when he met you.  </p><p>“How are you, Jane? Did FRIDAY drive smoothly?” </p><p>“Of course. And it was a very comfortable car she’s in, thank you.” </p><p>“Only the best!” </p><p>You laughed a little and walked with him back up the steps. </p><p>“The team is out, so you won’t be able to meet any of them yet, but the office is full today. Maybe you will lighten up their spirits.” </p><p>“Ah, yeah, I heard about that mess. HYDRA back yet again? Seems unreal.” </p><p>“They are nothing if not persistent.”  </p><p>He opened the door to the front reception area. FRIDAY chimed up and said, </p><p>“Welcome home, Ms. Hart.” </p><p>“Not keeping it a secret, are you?” you asked. </p><p>“Not at all,” he said, smiling at you. You simply rolled your eyes and shook your head. He led you to the offices where you would be working most of the time. He had hired you when there was still and Avengers tower. You worked in accounting and human resources, now exclusively in the latter. He decided a couple months ago that with a growing team, it would do well to have someone who could act as a team manager and live on the campus too. You did not have much tying you to New York City, so it was an easy choice to make for yourself. It was a good thing Mr. Stark liked you because it was an enviable position and he had personally asked you to take it on. </p><p>Now here you were, moving into the compound. You were not too sure how well this would all go, and it was going to be experimental for a while before there would be a final decision. It was a nice sunny day and the halls were lit well by the glow of outside and the matter of glass being most of the walls. </p><p>You smiled at people you passed along the way to your new office at the end of a wide hallway. </p><p>“Why does this feel like an executive’s office?” you said, slightly stunned with how large it was with windows all around. A big desk was centered in the room and some plush chairs were across the desk from the one you would be using. You ran your fingers across the top of the desk and seated yourself in the chair. Your double monitors were the only things adorning your desk aside from an earpiece. </p><p>“What is this for?” you asked Mr. Stark. </p><p>“It’s how you can communicate with FRIDAY. You just pop it in and forget about it... but don’t forget about it and uh, clean your ears.” </p><p>“My ears are clean!” </p><p>“Mhmm, I thi-” he started to say, but was interrupted by an incoming call. He put up a finger to your conversation and you distracted yourself by turning your computer on. </p><p>“Yeah, I’ll be there. I’m just showing a rook around. Mhm, oh yeah? … well I’ll see you shortly then.” </p><p>Mr. Stark’s phone call ended, and he turned on his heel to face you again. </p><p>“It’s been nice, rook, but duty calls, I must go be an amazing boyfriend now. You got this right? Of course, you do. I’ll see you later.” </p><p>And with that he left, and you were laughing and shaking your head to yourself as you booted up your programs. Everything would be fine; you were used to this sort of behavior from him and were surprised the tour had even lasted as long as it had. There was only one slight problem: you had no idea where your apartment was at in this place. A problem for another time... unless? </p><p>You placed the earpiece inside of your ear. </p><p>“FRIDAY?” </p><p>“Yes, Ms. Hart?” she asked. </p><p>“Do you know where my apartment is?” </p><p>“Yes, would you like me to show you?” </p><p>“...sure, after I’ve finished some work?” you asked, hesitantly. </p><p>“Of course.” </p><p>You worked the rest of the afternoon and updated your computer to be more like the one at the tower. When the sun started to go down you felt you should probably figure out the rest of your evening plans before moving some of your things into your new place. Agents, cleared to work for the Avengers Initiative, were doing leg work as newbies so you had several of your things moved in earlier that week. </p><p>“FRIDAY, I think it’s time you help me get to my room and maybe tell me where I should find some food.” </p><p>“All right, shall I start your office shutdown protocol?” </p><p>“Is it meant to be an everyday thing or if I was being attacked?” </p><p>“Everyday. The defense protocol is for your safety in the event of an attack.” </p><p>“Good to know... go ahead and start the shutdown then.” </p><p>The computer turned off and the lights dimmed until you were in the hallway, then they turned off completely. You made your way back to the reception hall and FRIDAY directed you to double doors. You pushed them open and walked slowly, taking in the things you saw along the way. It was a bridge across the outside lawn over to a smaller part of the compound you remembered from earlier. </p><p>“Is this where the team lives?” you asked FRIDAY. </p><p>“Yes, and where you will be living too.” </p><p>“Seems a little close for me to remain objective with my job.” </p><p>“You are one of the most objective HR representatives Stark Industries had to offer the Avengers Initiative. If you do have your doubts about your objectivity, you may always consult me,” the AI reassured. </p><p>You nodded and exited the enclosed bridge on the other side through twin double doors. There was a large common area, with a full kitchen and couches in a U-shape around an entertainment center. </p><p>“Wow, I’m impressed with the space. I figured it might be a little cramped by now with how many members of the team choose to live here.” </p><p>“Yes, maybe a couple dozen more and there will have to be an additional building or a remodel, although I doubt anyone would appreciate a smaller room.” </p><p>You smiled at her joke and continued your solo...ish tour. You peered in the kitchen, then the cabinets and refrigerators. Usual things inside them like rice, pancake mix, eggs, tomato juice, etc. You left the kitchen and stepped down into the area where the couches were set, looking at the systems below the screen and the video games some of the team members apparently played. After gaining some insight, you asked, </p><p>“Which way to my apartment?” </p><p>“To your left there is a hallway, your place is at the very end, again on your left.” </p><p>“Okay, time to go see what I’m working with,” you said and began your walk to the hall when you heard a door open and shut behind you. You turned to see the witch, Wanda Maximoff. </p><p> </p><p>She stopped in her tracks at the sight of you and hesitantly said, </p><p>“Who are you?” in her thick accent. </p><p>“FRIDAY, why don’t you do the introductions?” </p><p>FRIDAY’s voice came in gently over the intercom above, “Ms. Maximoff, this is Ms. Jane Hart. She will be working-” </p><p>“Oh yeah, you’re from the old place. Tony said you would be coming. I never went there but I’ve seen pictures. It’s much bigger than this place, or at least taller.” </p><p>You smiled, “Yeah, I’m glad you know. I was just about to get settled in. I guess I should say now that I am your human resources representative...” </p><p>“Sooo?” </p><p>“So, if you ever need anything,” you shrugged, coolly and continued, “come find me.” </p><p>“All right. Jane.” </p><p>You turned to go to your room, and she said, “It was good to meet you,” as she walked to the kitchen. </p><p>“Good to meet you too,” you called back and gave her a wave over your shoulder. You were not exactly ready to be welcomed or filtered in without everyone being there. It was good to keep your distance from them all anyway so as the remain the best at your job. </p><p>You reached your bedroom and opened the door with a swipe of your keycard. After you closed the door and took your first look you asked, </p><p>“Will I need the keycard every time?” </p><p>“No, Ms. Hart, I can let you in or there was also a keypad outside for your thumbprint.” </p><p>“Got it. I’m going to take you out now.” </p><p>You placed your earpiece on a table by the front door along with your keys, phone, wallet, and keycard. You took your time to look around. There were big windows with curtains that bunched on the floor, an electric fireplace with a television above it, and a nice big bed with the softest comforter you had ever felt. Your bathroom was nothing to write home about, but it was still wonderful looking, and you were sure it would be ecstasy after a long day. There were bookshelves built into the wall with the fireplace and the wall with the hallway behind it held your closet and a station for drinks where a mini fridge sat which made you smile. It was all simple and comforting. You changed into something more comfortable before going out to the kitchen again, this time in search of food to eat and not just look at. </p><p>FRIDAY seemed to have known you would be back soon enough because she said through a speaker in the kitchen, “There are items set apart in the first refrigerator which you can use to make your own pizza.” </p><p>“Hm,” you said in reply and got to work, following her instruction on how high to heat up the oven and how long you should let it bake. </p><p>Soon enough, you were back in your room, unpacking and eating your homemade grub.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, you woke up to the sound of FRIDAY telling you it was raining and watched as your curtains slowly opened. It was more pouring than raining. </p><p>“Would you like to continue the tour this morning?” FRIDAY asked through your room’s speaker. </p><p>“Yeah, let me get ready.” </p><p>You got out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed for work. You blow dried your hair to keep it straighter and grabbed your essentials, placing your earpiece in before stepping out into the hall. </p><p>“The team is back, Ms. Hart. Would you like to meet them?” FRIDAY asked in her ear. </p><p>“They are my job, so I suppose we should get this part out of the way.” </p><p>“A few of them are in the living room.” </p><p>“Okay.” </p><p>You made your way down the hall to the common area and saw three tall men watching the news broadcast for the morning. You instantly recognized them. Even at that distance and only viewing their profiles you could tell which Avengers you were seeing. Steve Rogers, America’s golden boy was standing with his arms crossed behind the couch his friends James Barnes and Sam Wilson were seated on. They were all so much more handsome in person and kept their attention on the television as you approached them. You cast your own eyes on the news to see what the hush was about and saw a story about a building collapsing in Quebec. No casualties and the police were investigating the possible cause, then the station switched to talking about the weather. </p><p>“I don’t know much about public relations,” you said and all three of their heads snapped to look in your direction as you continued, “but I’d say you all have done a great job handling this particular hot spot.” </p><p>“And who are you?” Sam asked, standing with Mr. Barnes. Steve’s arms fell to his side and he had a serious look on his face. </p><p>“I’m Jane Hart. I’ll be handling any of your human resources needs. My office is in the main building where all the other departments are, and my room is down the hallway behind me.” </p><p>“Tony mentioned someone would be coming, but I don’t remember him saying anything about them staying,” said Captain Rogers. </p><p>“Well your job doesn’t ever stop and mine technically doesn’t either now. When you need something, I’m always going to be here. I’m no one’s personal assistant and I can’t teach you anything more about your jobs, but I do help with such things as taxes and personal issues, whether they be work-related or not.” </p><p>You gave them all a friendly smile and your explanation seemed to help them understand who you would be to them in their work. Mr. Barnes reached out and gave you a handshake while saying, </p><p>“You can call me Bucky.” </p><p>“And I’m Sam,” the now grinning man said, holding his hand up in a short wave. </p><p>Captain Rogers looked at his friends and then to you and said, “It’s good to meet you, I’m Steve. Let us know if you need anything.” </p><p>“Actually, FRIDAY was about to finish the rest of the tour. I haven’t seen everything in this part of the compound yet if any or all of you would like to show me.” </p><p>“I can show you,” said Sam, with a bright smile. Your lips turned up into a smile too. </p><p>“Great,” you said, and he led you to the elevator. </p><p>“Let’s go Steve,” Bucky said to his quiet friend. They followed the two of you to the elevator wanting to tag along. </p><p>When you all stepped on, you glanced at the buttons and asked, </p><p>“Sublevels?” </p><p>“Tony has a lot in storage,” said Sam. </p><p>You nodded in understanding and he pushed for the next level up. The elevator quickly lifted you all and the doors pinged open. </p><p>You exited the elevator and looked around the large room. </p><p>“The whole floor is for gym equipment, shooting targets, and sparring,” said Sam. </p><p>“What are your specialties?” you asked your companions. </p><p>“These two don’t have to work as hard as I do to stay in shape being the super soldiers they are,” Sam said, backhanding Bucky’s chest and continuing, “so I find myself using just about everything in this room and on nicer days I take a long run.” </p><p>“And you two?” </p><p>“I usually go out to the range to practice long distance shots and Steve and I go up against each other on the mat to learn how to fight better.” </p><p>“I like the punching bag and out running Sam,” said Steve and you chuckled as Sam gave his friend an offended look. Bucky delighted in the banter as much as you did. These guys were fantastic with each other. You wondered if it was that way during their work.  </p><p>“There isn’t much else to see down here unless you want to get a workout in,” said Steve. </p><p>“We can move on,” you said and called the elevator yourself. </p><p>Steve spoke again, relaxing around you, “We would show you the roof if it wasn’t raining.” </p><p>“That’s all right, I’ve seen a rooftop before,” you joked. </p><p>Sam selected another level, this time it was closer to the ground. When the doors opened, your mouth fell open and you muttered, “Oh my gosh.” </p><p>There were several amazing looking cars and motorcycles. You were surprised at how many colors they would put on cars, but you figured if they had the money and the car, the detailers would not say ‘no’. </p><p>“Buried treasure,” you whispered to yourself. </p><p>“Do you ride at all?” Sam asked. </p><p>You nodded, “I have before and enjoyed it. I don’t know much about cars or bikes, but I like to look at them and learn about all the new things they can do as the tech evolves.” </p><p>They all nodded in agreement and glanced around at the vehicles. </p><p>“The whole floor, huh?” you asked them with a smile. </p><p>You received grins back and they turned toward to elevator once more. </p><p>“There can’t be much more to see, right?” you asked. </p><p>“We have a gallery,” Steve suggested. Sam checked his watch as the elevator climbed to the main level. </p><p>“I should go set up the briefing room for when the rest of the team comes back,” he said. </p><p>You checked your own watch as you all stepped off the elevator. </p><p>“Yeah, I need to get a lot of work done before the week is over,” you said and looked at Steve, “later, you can show me the gallery if you’d like.” </p><p>He simply nodded. You, Sam, and Bucky went through the double doors and walked the bridge to the main part of the compound. You waved at them as they strode toward the briefing room and said their goodbyes. You continued to feel relieved there was a foundation of friendship in the group so far.  </p><p>Once you were in your office and started your work, you made note of the things that had occurred. As time passed, you were hoping to see development and trust grow in the relationships you would build with these team members all while remaining professional and distant. Not so easy, but you would try your best. </p><p>The toughest part was setting up the foundation. If everyone wanted to talk to you then that was good, but with one negative egg, you would be moving back into your office at Stark Industries, knowing full well that the next person to try would have an even harder time. You had set yourself a probationary period from the statistics you ran while conducting a similar job in London a few years back. In this time, you would meet with everyone and build a backbone for them to lean on. If you failed to have everyone on board, then you would excuse yourself back to New York City. It was the best thing for everyone for you to remain without too much feeling as well so you could do the job right the first time. </p><p>This was never an easy thing for your people to understand when you worked with them. They fought it and tried to get to know you as you were getting to know them. Finally, you would let in just to pack your things up and be gone by the next week. All you wanted was to design a livelihood this team could work around as they worried about other things. They had their schedules and their missions, but many of them did not have a life. It was up to you to find them the outlets they needed personally and with their teammates. Sure, it was some public relations and counseling, but all in all you were the humans’ resource for every kind of thing. </p><p>You worked the day away and formed a schedule for next week which would last you for your full probationary period. You wanted to fill the schedule and be productive in finding everyone something of substance for their lives. You thought of how Mr. Stark was so keen on getting the group out and into society more, making you laugh with how he projected his own activities onto them in the stories he would tell. </p><p> </p><p>“FRIDAY?” </p><p>“Yes, Ms. Hart?” </p><p>“Commence shutdown protocol,” you said confidently and half joking because it was still weird to say it, let alone to an AI. </p><p>“Commencing shutdown now. What are your evening plans, Ms. Hart?” </p><p>“I don’t have any. What are your plans?” </p><p>“I don’t set plans for myself, Ms. Hart.” </p><p>“Bummer.” </p><p>You left your office, lights turning off as you walked down the hall. You seemed to be the last one to leave for the day. </p><p>“FRIDAY, is the rest of the team in the compound?” </p><p>“Yes, they are actually awaiting your arrival into the main area of the living space.” </p><p>“What for?” </p><p>“Mr. Stark requested their presence so they could all meet you.” </p><p>“I’m glad he wants this to succeed as much as I do, but everyone will be apprehensive at first. Would it be better to meet them all in small groups?” </p><p>“They are able to handle a lot at once, Ms. Hart.” </p><p>“You’re right. They are not regular people, are they?” </p><p>“Not at all.” </p><p>You smiled at her agreeance and reached the double doors to the bridge. You thought about who would probably be there and played a game to see if you could come out right on your guess. Surely, the three men you met this morning would be there again and of course Mr. Stark. Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanoff, James Rhodey, and the guy who flew, you never caught his name, would be there. He was a powerful being who you figured would be the most difficult Avenger to find something to do outside of general work. The rest of the team would not be living at the compound and they would meet you too, just at a later date. </p><p> </p><p>Now it was time to see if you had won your own game. You opened the door and heard distant chattering from the living area. You spotted Mr. Stark instantly and scanned the rest of the group. You were mostly right. There was an extra person, Peter Parker. He was just out of high school so he must have moved here in the last few months. You put a friendly smile on your face and approached the group. They quieted their conversations when Mr. Stark said, </p><p>“Ms. Hart, just who we were waiting for!” </p><p>“My birthday isn’t for another four months, Mr. Stark. What gives?” you joked. </p><p>“Oh, we’re not surprising you, we’re here to introduce ourselves,” said Peter. </p><p>You looked at him with Mr. Stark and without saying anything to him, Mr. Stark answered your joke, “This is Jane Hart, everybody. Jane, here’s everybody. Anyone you don’t recognize from the news?” </p><p>“I think I know all your names except yours,” you said, looking at the only person in the room with his head tilted in interest at what was going on. </p><p>“I’m called Vision,” he said. </p><p>“Then that should be everybody. It’s good to finally meet you all.” </p><p>“Why don’t we have a party?” Tony asked and clapped his hands together. </p><p>“This isn’t party enough?” said Natasha. </p><p>“She’s right, why amp up what we have going?” you asked. </p><p>“Because this is a fun place to work.” </p><p>“How about you just order dinner and not call it a party,” you suggested to him as the group soon lost interest in what you were discussing. </p><p>Except Peter, he chimed in again, </p><p>“If you’re ordering in, can we get sandwiches?” </p><p>“You will get a sandwich; the adults will eat something else.” </p><p>You grinned and suggested, “Adult sandwiches?” </p><p>Tony gave you a blank look in disappointment of you siding with the teenager. He faked his exasperation by throwing his hands up in the air slightly and saying, </p><p>“Fine.” </p><p>You laughed a bit and walked away to your room as he went on to ask FRIDAY to order sandwiches from the place that seemed to be Peter’s favorite. Everyone went about their business and mingled, some more awkwardly than others. Once you were in your room, you freshened up and put away some of your things. You took out the earpiece after FRIDAY told you the sandwiches had arrived. You joined the group and tried your hand at some small talk. Asking about their day and what kind of sandwich they were going to make. It was like talking to children, but it was the easiest method to find out the lay of the land before delving into deeper conversations. </p><p>You constantly felt eyes on you as everyone got to know who this new person living near them. You did not mind it one bit. You were accustomed to being the center of attention sometimes. When the room quieted for a moment, Wanda piped up, </p><p>“So, Jane, tell us more about yourself. Where are you from?” </p><p>“I’m from the city. I used to work for Stark Industries.” </p><p>“And before that?” </p><p>“Nowhere special,” you said with a kind smile, “should I have brought copies of my resume?” </p><p>She shook her head, “just curious. What was it like to work for Tony?” </p><p>“Fabulous,” Tony said. </p><p>“Sure, it was,” you said joking and earning a couple laughs. “It was great, actually.” </p><p>“See? I’m a great employer.” </p><p>“No one said you were a bad one Tony,” said Steve. </p><p>When most of the plates were empty, you glanced at half of the faces at the large meeting table. What were they discussing? You heard the words ‘agents’, ‘sore’, and ‘HYDRA’. They could not talk about anything else, you questioned to yourself. It was dinner time. A light discussing about their activities would be great. </p><p>Well if they would discuss work, you assumed you could. </p><p>You cleared your throat and said, loudly at first to get everyone’s attention and then at a normal level, “I’d like to offer all of you my services, even though there is a requirement to meet with me twice a month, I want it to be designed to allow you to pick when that is and where it is. You can come more often too if you want and I live here now so I’m always available. Although, if you come knocking at three in the morning, I can’t guarantee I’ll be well prepared for our meeting, but,” you shrugged and continued, “I’ll help if I can.” </p><p>“What exactly will you be helping us with?” asked Natasha, genuinely curious. </p><p>“Great question. I will be assisting you all “get lives” outside of work. We, meaning Fury, myself and Mr. Stark here believe all of you deserve it and need it in order to continue providing the services you do. I’m not one to judge what you do in your free time, but it has become a matter of community. You serve your community and they serve you by giving you their money to stay in a nice facility like this, but they hardly see you as less than superstars.” </p><p>“And this is bad?” asked Sam. </p><p>“Not bad, just detached. Honestly, when it comes down to brass tax, you all should have hobbies and go on vacations... publicly,” you explained. </p><p>“What if we don’t want to take a vacation?” Wanda asked. </p><p>“Well it has been made a requirement of your job now because all of you seem to be the type to think a vacation is unnecessary or undeserved and I am here to tell you this is not the case.” </p><p>“I like vacation,” Bucky muttered, more to himself than to the room. </p><p>“Me too,” you said, happy someone was on board with this new rule so far. </p><p>He looked at you, seeming a little surprised you heard him. He continued, </p><p>“When can we start?” </p><p>You smiled at him and answered, “right now if you want.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Steve is an outlier.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Over the next two months, you had developed a foundation below your relationships with most of the group, but you were still struggling with someone unexpected. Steve Rogers was a hard nut to crack. He would act somewhat evasive when you would be in the common area at the same time and he kept giving excuses about missing the meeting times he would set for the two of you. Even with two of his best friends visiting you and urging him to go to your office, he would continue to avoid the matter. He visited once within those two months and he talked about how he went to Veteran Affairs half an hour away. </p><p>“So, what else do you do?” you asked, taking note of his trips to the VA. </p><p>“Study HYDRA’s moves and try to determine where they might be or might be going.” </p><p>“I already know you work, Captain, I’m talking about reading, writing, touch football... anything other than work.” </p><p>“Nothing then. I work and help veterans.” </p><p>“Okay, we can definitely do something here,” you took notes again and continued, “do you have interests in anything? Something you feel you have missed out on even. Especially while you were in the ice.” </p><p>He looked at the desk in thought and made a drawn ‘pffft’ noise and tightened his shoulders. You prompted him with something else, </p><p>“Is there a place you’ve always wanted to visit?” </p><p>“Hawaii,” he said quickly. </p><p>You nodded, smiled and made a note. </p><p>“Why Hawaii?” </p><p>“All the pictures of it and what I have heard about it draws me in. I think a lot of people feel that way about Hawaii though.” </p><p>“Maybe so. Anywhere else?” </p><p>“None that I can think of right now.” </p><p>“All right. Well I have homework for you then. Take some time until we meet again and think of another place you would like to see and then look into things to do upstate. I know there is plenty to do but find something you think you would enjoy whether it is alone or in a group. I’ll look for you too, even with your vague answers to go off of.” </p><p>You looked up at him from your notes and he had a look on his face that you would expect from Peter Parker at the word ‘homework’. </p><p>“What?” you asked. </p><p>“Nothing... how much time do I have?” </p><p>“Within the next couple of weeks, I suppose.” </p><p>“All right. I’ll see you around,” he said while standing. You got out of your chair too and stood behind your desk as he left. </p><p>“Bye, Steve.” </p><p>After that, the rest of the group was starting to fail. They felt guilty because he was working harder. They went to their outside activities less and less, having only gone to them a handful of times and spending more and more time in the compound again. Your probationary period was going to end in a month, and you were unsure if you would be able to convince Steve to start trying something outside of this place. </p><p>This week, half of the team was out on a mission to Cuba, so you spent a lot of hours in your office. One of those late nights, Fury and Tony visited you. </p><p>“I know, I know,” you said as they entered without looking at them or hearing what they have to say. </p><p>“She’s so happy to see us!” said Tony, sarcastically. </p><p>You sighed and looked at them from your computer screen. They sat in the chairs across from you and Fury started talking, </p><p>“Do you want to give us a status report? What’s going on? I hardly see a change and I’m wondering what we’re paying you for.” </p><p>“It’s Captain Workaholic. Everyone except him, and that is not an exaggeration, has something to do every week outside of work and a lot of them had started going out at night even like into small towns to barhop yet, here we are almost back to square one because Rogers can’t stop dedicating his entire life to work. They’re feeling guilty because he spends more time than anyone doing research and training. Training what, you might ask, I’m not sure, all of his muscles continually ripple.” </p><p>“You don’t have to have a probation set, remember? You can take as long as you need to get everyone to play normal,” said Fury. </p><p>“She only believes in scheduled failure,” said Tony. </p><p>You rolled your eyes and sighed again. </p><p>“It hasn’t been this hard before to get people out of the workplace. I knew I would have difficulty because these are their lives. I mean, it doesn’t help that they live where they work-” </p><p>“Well, separate buildings but I get your point, go on,” interrupted Tony. </p><p>You pressed on, “do either of you know what he finds interesting? Do you know what he does as a hobby? Because it doesn’t seem like anyone does and I don’t want to ask Barnes about things pre-ice. I feel like that’s cheating.” </p><p>“No, I don’t ask them about their personal lives, I just intrude when the opportunity falls into my lap,” answered Tony. </p><p>“I have more pressing matters to attend to Ms. Hart,” said Fury, “what do you plan on doing?” </p><p>“He has three more weeks. At least we know everyone else is willing, but without his ability or his vulnerability to change some part of his lifestyle, his position and leadership will make me go back to New York. I’ll have run out of things to try before starting a full blown investigation on the life of Steve Rogers. He might be more available to try with the next person to hold this job.” </p><p>“Works for me. Even though I would like if you stayed,” said Tony. </p><p>“I second that.” </p><p>“Well... if I’m still here, next month there is a conference in New York City I plan on going to, so I’ll be gone for a couple nights. FRIDAY made a note in your calendars. I’ll do my best to try and see it out, I’m doing everything except forcing.” </p><p>They stood to leave. </p><p>“Good luck.” </p><p>“She doesn’t need it.” </p><p>“Oh, I might,” you joked and earned a smile from each.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Steve has been shown the light.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Your stress was mounted at its peak. You had three days now to make a change. No one was accepting new lifestyles now and you were feeling defeated. This was why you would leave if nothing after so much time, you could not handle the failure, especially when all your effort has gone wasted to arrange so much. </p><p>You started to pack your things in your room the evening before, pretty much accepting defeat. At that moment, you were sending your files to a cloud backup inside FRIDAY’s system. </p><p>“Why are you uploading when it is not the end of the month?” FRIDAY inquired. </p><p>“I want to get out of here as quickly as possible on Friday, so I need to make the backup smaller. Although it only takes you a minute to do one month, imagine how short it will be for just two days...” </p><p>“I do not have to imagine it. It will take 2 seconds.” </p><p>“See? Saving time.” </p><p>“Yes, you are Ms. Hart.” </p><p>“That sounded condescending.” </p><p>“I apologize, sometimes my communication can seem detached.” </p><p>“Was there anything else I could have done FRIDAY?” you sighed out, “did I have other options?” </p><p>“You did, but you have already gone through them all with me. You cannot force someone to do something they do not want to do.” </p><p>“Of course not, I think it was just how my expectations were going into it,” you said, disappointed. </p><p>“And you could not help how everyone reacted over time. Does it not make you feel better to know they have strong leadership?” </p><p>“...no.” </p><p>“Oh.” </p><p>“I’m kind of kidding. I’m just frustrated.” </p><p>“I understand. Would you like me to order you some gummy bears?” </p><p>“I’m going to miss you... yes, please.” </p><p>“They will be here shortly.” </p><p>An hour later, before lunch, your gummy bears arrived, but the deliverer was a surprise. You felt dread sink into you and hated the way you felt when looking at someone you should be trying to help. Steve was walking toward your office door and then he was opening it. </p><p>“Hello, Jane. I uh, intercepted these and thought I could bring them to you personally.” </p><p>He handed you the package of gummy bears and you opened them immediately. </p><p>“How are you Steve?” </p><p>“I’m conflicted,” he said as he seated himself across from you. You looked at him, gummy bear in mouth and in hand. Conflicted? You thought for a second. Was Steve Rogers about to communicate? </p><p>“Well, I’m hungry, walk with me to the kitchen?” you asked. </p><p>“Oh, sure.” </p><p>You both stood and exited your office, walking toward the apartments. </p><p>“I wanted to apologize.” </p><p>You tried to contain your surprise and put more gummies in your mouth allowing him to just continue. </p><p>“You have been trying to help me for months now and I have been fighting it because I didn’t think we should distract ourselves with hobbies or vacations. I realized I lose appreciation for the time I have left as it flies by when I let work consume me. I want to find something more. More than the VA every week.” </p><p>He glanced at you and you suddenly found your gummy bear package very interesting. He opened the door for you both to walk through and enter the common area of the apartments. Tony was there, acting like he was waiting for someone. When he saw the both of you, he said, </p><p>“Have you worked things out Cap?” </p><p>“This,” you pointed at Steve, “is because of you?” you asked, now it was all clicking in your head. Steve was feeling guilty for making you leave. He probably did not know there was a deadline for his cooperation until Tony told him. </p><p>“Was I not supposed to say anything?” </p><p>Steve looked confused but let you all have your moment in quiet observation. </p><p>“No, of course not! He should have come to me naturally, not by your motivations.” </p><p>“Come on, no one wants you to leave, Jane. You’re great... deal with this,” he said in a fatherly tone as he pointed between you and Steve and backed away. You sighed, resolutely. But also, with relief, you hated moving. </p><p>“Well, I will still be leaving next week for the conference,” you called after him, hands on hips. </p><p>“Oh, your fun little whatever. Great,” he stopped his backward motion, obviously thinking about something. He continued, </p><p>“HYDRA has been acting up more these past couple months, why don’t you take someone with you from the team?” </p><p>“Wh-” you started, confused but Steve said, </p><p>“I’ll go.” </p><p>“Great! Have fun.” </p><p>He left and went to the offices. You were still lost in what just happened but pushed it aside to think about it later. Now was the time for food and the rest of Steve’s apology. You walked to the kitchen and started preparing a sandwich. Halfway through making it, you asked the man sitting quietly at the counter, </p><p>“So, you want to do more outside of work?” </p><p>“Yeah, I finally did my homework.” </p><p>“Thank goodness, I was worried about what I would say during parent teacher conferences.” </p><p>Steve smiled and you could not help but return one to him.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next week, Steve came by your office every day, sometimes bringing Bucky or Sam. He would talk about his visit to the VA and how he asked a few younger veterans what they do for fun so that maybe he could go along with them to their other activities. The best one so far was baseball. Steve was never much of a baseball player, but he enjoyed the sport. Bucky lit up at the idea and suddenly you were arranging an organization wide softball tournament for the spring. </p><p>He went to a class near the VA to learn more about modern art, intrigued by Picasso’s work while he was iced. He did not know what this meant, but he was going to continue going. You were proud of him. Once he let a little bit of control go, he was suddenly a busy person but a relaxed person. He was still figuring out the separation of work and home, but it was easy for that to be a problem among them all. Even in the car on the way to NYC, he would go back and forth between talking about HYDRA’s efforts and such things like his favorite place to get ice cream in the city. </p><p>“You’ll have to take me there while we’re visiting,” you suggested. </p><p>“You like ice cream?” </p><p>“Does that surprise you?” </p><p>“No, it’s just, I don’t know much about you. Now I know you like ice cream.” </p><p>“I like chocolate milkshakes and anything pistachio.” </p><p>He nodded, seeming to understand your personal preferences. </p><p>“I like all of it.” </p><p>You grinned, of course he did. It was a wartime treat and he could have it whenever he liked. FRIDAY stopped in Albany so you could treat yourselves to a walk and food before hitting the road again. </p><p>“You know, we could have taken a Quinjet. Tony still has places arranged in the city where we can land.” </p><p>“I know, but it’s not a bad drive and besides, I think this is more comfortable. Are you antsy to get there, Captain?” </p><p>“Maybe... I haven’t been in a while.” </p><p>He was looking at passing scenery as FRIDAY drove on. You rested your head back and closed your eyes for the rest of the trip to the hotel you were staying in. </p><p>You were being nudged and you realized you were not moving anymore. You opened your eyes and Steve said, </p><p>“We’re here.” </p><p>“Great,” you said, groggy in your head and in your voice. You stepped out of the car and went inside to check in with the front desk. It was a beautiful building and you were glad you were able to snag a spot in the same hotel the conference was in for convenience. You liked NYC but you had qualms about traveling through it. You combed your fingers through your hair on the back of your head and straightened your clothes. You dressed comfortably for the trip, just in jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket so it was hardly noticeable that you had just slept for about three hours. You surprised yourself since you could hardly sleep in moving vehicles. FRIDAY must have the magic touch... or you just trusted her more than most humans. Steve followed you in with the bags, dressed similarly to you. </p><p>It was warm inside. They were still prepping the room so the two of you waited in the lobby café.  </p><p>“Would you like anything Steve? My treat.” </p><p>“You don’t have to. I’m okay.” </p><p>“Come on, one thing. A drink? A muffin?” </p><p>“I’ll have a coffee.” </p><p>“All right. Find us a table and I’ll order.” </p><p>You went to the counter to speak to the attendant and Steve sat at a circular table in a corner. Once you were at the point of waiting for the drinks to be ready, you glanced at your bodyguard. He was talking to FRIDAY but to the rest of the room he probably looked crazy. It was a good thing he had a hat on so he could hide some of his face, no one recognized him, and you were of absolutely no importance to the general public so eyes hardly met your table when you sat with the hot drinks. You sipped and he gulped. You grimaced at his actions and he looked up from the paper he had picked up. </p><p>“What?” </p><p>“Why do you drink it like that? Doesn’t it burn your mouth?” </p><p>“Not like it did when I was younger. It’s the serum.” </p><p>“Man. If I knew that I would have splurged for a large.” </p><p>“This is great. Thank you.” </p><p>“It’s no problem. Are you so excited for the conference?” you joked. </p><p>He chuckled, “I think it will be interesting to see what you do at a conference. What does your schedule look like?” </p><p>“We have a dinner tonight at seven and then all-day tomorrow are seminars and book signings. Some seminars overlap so I have already picked out the ones I prefer. The next day is a breakfast and a keynote speaker. After that will be when all the businesses present and throw up booths to try and poach employees. We can go home during that part, it’s pointless.” </p><p>“Can you show me the list? Did they give you a map?” </p><p>“You really are taking this whole security detail thing seriously.” </p><p>“HYDRA was closer than any of us thought for a really long time so we’re cautious. I’m more than happy to do this after making your job as difficult as I did for the past couple of months. I’m trying to make amends, I guess. And do my job.” </p><p>You nodded and handed him the papers you had in your bag for the event. Even if you thought it was overkill to think the HR conference would be a target for HYDRA agents, you were glad he was there. You had grown accustomed to having the team around all the time so it felt weird to be down to just one. Steve studied the papers you gave him with the map and the seminars you had picked for the next day. After he was satisfied with his knowledge of them, he went back to his newspaper. </p><p>After a few minutes of you going through your phone and Steve making noises about the things he read in the paper, a man in a hotel uniform approached your table and said, </p><p>“Yours and your husband’s room is ready, ma’am.” </p><p>You fought the urge to facepalm and instead stood up and whispered to the man, </p><p>“What’s your name?” </p><p>“George,” he said looking at you nervously. </p><p>“Well George, first let me thank you for coming to tell us the room is ready,” you said as you handed him a bill from your pocket. </p><p>“And I also want to thank you for believing I could be married to the handsome man behind us because Lord knows he is one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen,” George nodded in agreement after a glance at Steve over your shoulder.  </p><p>“We aren’t married though, so I’m going to need to ask for you to be our personal assistant for the next couple of days, so we can avoid this awkwardness from happening again by anyone else,” you said, handing him another tip. </p><p>“How do we arrange that?” you asked, sweetly. </p><p>“Right this way,” he said and put his hand out in the direction of the front desk. </p><p>“Oh! We’ve been there before!” you said, with your fake cheerfulness, enjoying this situation way too much. You turned to look at Steve who was grinning at his paper, obviously having heard your conversation with George. </p><p>“Let’s go, old man.” </p><p>“Yes, dear.” </p><p>You laughed and he stood up, continuing to smile at the situation too. You started to walk toward the desk after George, who was halfway there and waiting patiently. Steve muttered loud enough for you to hear, </p><p>“You should probably give me a different name if anyone ever asks.” </p><p>You nodded and gave George a friendly smile. You followed him to the front desk where you talked the attendant into making him your only contact while you would be staying there. They informed you he could not deliver any room service if you ordered it because of food handling permits so you requested a silent delivery because surely, they would get everything right on your order. They agreed to all your strange requests, making notes in the computer, at one point using caps lock. It was all very pleasant, so the attendant was met with generosity too when you handed them a couple of bills after the exchange was complete. </p><p>George then led you to the elevators, insisting on carrying your bags but Steve told him he had already gone above and beyond the call of service and carried them instead. Your room was nice with a separated living room and bedroom. You thanked George and gave him another tip before he left. Steve set your bag on the bed after putting his on the couch. </p><p>“Sorry I didn’t arrange for another room. I didn’t really have time.” </p><p>“No worries. I think this might be the best couch to sleep on in all of New York.” </p><p>He looked at it with his hands on his hips. Steve could win an award for his ability to work through change. You sighed and resolved since he had and you started to unpack a little to get ready for later. You closed the doors between the bedroom and living room then changed your outfit. </p><p>You were excited for the night to unfold. Dinner was always wonderful at these events and the booze were finer than you usually had available to you. There was a knock on the hotel door and Steve opened it up to George. George looked at Steve’s kind face and stammered, </p><p>“Yo- Your event is going to start soon. I’m here to- to let you know and help you with anything… you need.” </p><p>The last part of his sentence was a whisper. Steve must make him nervous. </p><p>“Okay!” you called from the bedroom and walked toward the front door. You were not wearing anything spectacular yet they both paused their lives a moment to take you in. </p><p>“Let’s go,” you said, putting your last earring in and then handed Steve the room card. The three of you headed to the elevator. </p><p>“So- Sorry to ask this but I feel like I recognize you from… from something.” </p><p>“I get that a lot,” said Steve. </p><p>“He really does. He grew his facial hair out because people kept saying he looked like Captain America. Have I not properly introduced you? His name is Frank.” </p><p>“Frank,” said George with his sweet gullibility. </p><p>“Frank Hobbs,” said Steve. And with that he had an alias for the event. </p><p>Down a handful of floors, you left the elevator with Steve, allowing George to finish the rest of his shift and go home while the two of you spent the evening with HR reps and some executives of various employers. You were ushered to check in where you placed your name badge on the lapel of your blazers and Steve denied the sticker saying he has a thing about stickers. </p><p>You were then ushered to your assigned table where you relaxed for a few moments before the rest of the table was filled. You both introduced yourselves. The other guests were a John Krauss, Freda Mott, Bill Garden, Gary Clyde, and Tonya Simpson. John was the only other younger person at the table with you so you were happy he was seated on your other side from Steve. It was not a bad thing to be around middle aged or older people in your field but they lacked in humor most of the time and only discussed what was happening in front of them instead of experiences in their job, which was kind of the point of sitting at a round table such as you were.  </p><p>“Are you from New York?” John asked you as the table chattered away and Steve looked at the itinerary for the evening. </p><p>“Yes, I didn’t have to travel far. What about you?” </p><p>“I’m from Pennsylvania. Just on the border of New York, so neither did I.” </p><p>He gave you a warm smile that made you smile back and feel a bit of heat reach your head. You chatted, sharing some information about your life with him as he would with you. He had grown up in Chicago and moved to Pennsylvania for college and ended up staying there to work for Hershey. This interested you a lot, but you tried to contain your excitement.  </p><p>“I was born and raised in the Midwest but moved to New York during high school. Then I went to college at NYU and started working for Stark Industries.” </p><p>His excitement shown on his face at the mention of Stark Industries. </p><p>“Aren’t they exclusively in California now?” </p><p>“Yeah, I don’t work there anymore.” </p><p>“Oh, do you mind if I ask why?” </p><p>“I was offered a better job.” </p><p>“Where at?” </p><p>“It’s a secret,” you said, trying to flirt your way from the question and smiled at him. </p><p>“All right, Jane. Playing divisively, are we?” </p><p>“No way, just making you work harder for the coveted information of my life.” </p><p>“Oh, I see. Can I work harder tomorrow during lunch? I know a great place we can go to a couple blocks away.” </p><p>You smiled and nodded. </p><p>“Sure, I can meet you down in the lobby at noon.” </p><p>“Great,” and then he hushed his voice and asked, “will your friend be joining us?” </p><p>“Frank goes everywhere with me. He’s my assistant... my job can be very demanding.” </p><p>“Okay, he can sit at a different table, right?” </p><p>“...right. You can flirt with me alone.” </p><p>He grinned and you smirked. The rest of the evening was spent eating great food, sipping wine, and listening to the introductory speaker to the conference. Soon after dinner though, you were starting to think Steve might be wasting his valuable time being somewhere like this with not much former knowledge of what was being discussed. He did not look bored, but it was pointless information for him to sit through especially when the table talk was so dry. He was quiet most of the time, only saying a couple of words to you and asking a few questions about the world of HR. You gave him friendly smiles throughout the couple of hours you were at the dinner, half guilty and half amused at his patience. </p><p>After you were all dismissed, you exchanged numbers with John and left with Steve. When you were back on your floor, walking to your room and out of earshot of everyone that had been downstairs at the dinner, Steve asked, </p><p>“So, I’m your assistant, huh?” </p><p>You sighed, “I didn’t really know what else to say.” </p><p>He gave you a sideways smile and unlocked the hotel room. </p><p>“It makes sense. And I hope you don’t mind me tagging along tomorrow.” </p><p>“Not at all,” you said as you started taking your jewelry off and kicking your shoes by the bed, “...sorry to mention it again, but it seems pointless for you to be here. I enjoy your company, but don’t you find this incredibly boring?” </p><p>“I don’t know. Maybe it is pointless but what would you have me do? Tony suggested it and I offered. We haven’t found every hot spot for HYDRA,” he said as he took his jacket off and sat on the couch to start untying his shoes, “but we know where they have been, and New York was huge for them.” </p><p>You nodded. </p><p>“It just seems like you’re on a really boring vacation.” </p><p>“Sometimes this is work. Sitting in a hotel room, waiting for something the happen.” </p><p>You simply smirked at him and leaned against the doorway between the living room and bedroom. </p><p>“Do you always get dates that easily?” he asked, grinning at you as he leaned and relaxed. </p><p>Your smirk grew. </p><p>“You know, I don’t remember it being that easy before. I must have had something extra going for me tonight.” </p><p>“I’m sure you have had a lot of dates.” </p><p>“I’ve had my fair share. I think John’s the first one in a long time I feel I could really like... although it’s a bummer he lives in Pennsylvania.” </p><p>“Have you had a long-distance relationship before?” he asked. </p><p>“No, or at least they didn’t last very long. Plus, we aren’t at the relationship point here, Frank,” you said jokingly, “Literally have not gone on one date yet.” </p><p>“Sometimes I forget how different dating is now.” </p><p>“A lot can go on without even being labeled as a relationship.” </p><p>“Yeah, it’s beyond my knowledge.” </p><p>“But not beyond your comprehension. Plenty of women would date you, Steve. It just takes practice to get use to the dating scene.” </p><p>“I don’t know if I’m cut out for dating.” </p><p>“All right. You have plenty of time to change your mind or not. Plenty of people remain single throughout their lives.” </p><p>“Are you trying to justify my decision?” </p><p>“Yeah, because I like companionship, so it’s harder to imagine staying single by choice.” </p><p>You smiled at Steve and he gave you a soft laugh. After a second of silence, you squinted your eyes and looked at the door in thought. Steve started flipping through channels on the tv finding the news and then glanced at you. </p><p>“What are you doing?” </p><p>“I’m thinking... about dessert.” </p><p>“We had dessert.” </p><p>“Cookies?” you said, giving him a look and putting a hand on your hip, “I want dessert.” </p><p>Your hand was now raised, low and dramatic in feeling at the word ‘dessert’. </p><p>“Do you want to order something?” </p><p>You thought for a second again. </p><p>“I think you should order something for you and then something for me and as we wait, we’ll find something better than the news to watch and hang out in our comfy clothes.” </p><p>“Isn’t it too late for a party like what you’re suggesting?” </p><p>“Oh, come on, don’t act like an old man, old man. Don’t you have a weird sleep schedule anyway?” </p><p>“How do you know that?” </p><p>“Bucky only sleeps five hours a night. I guessed you’re the same way.” </p><p>“Fine, I won’t be an old man. I’ll order dessert if you stop calling me ‘old man’.” </p><p>You smirked again. </p><p>“Agreed.” </p><p>You closed the door so you could change as he picked up the phone to order the goods. You heard quiet murmuring on the other side of the door and a smile crept on your face. You wondered if Steve had ever had a sleepover as a child where they behaved like misfits or if it was Bucky’s responsibility to give him stuff to do. As you hopped into your comfortable clothes and went to the bathroom where you washed your face, you thought about their early life together. Bucky had fears about Steve’s stagnancy for a while when he had returned from Wakanda after receiving his psychological treatments. Bucky had divulged some information about when they were younger and how Steve was gung-ho about joining the military for a long time. Now, after the ice and all the issues he had gone through with the Avengers, you realized maybe he was taking it in and trying to be normal in our current time. Bucky understood your reasoning for his behavior and did not bring it up again. Of course, after that conversation, he had started to do his homework as you had asked him to. </p><p>Back in the compound, you would know with a couple weeks' time if Steve was of any concern anymore. You had a feeling he would be independent in his search for a life and you could focus back on Bucky and the rest of the team. You heard a knock on the front door, and you went through the bedroom, opening the doors to the living room and asked Steve, </p><p>“I wonder if they saw they’re supposed to be silent.” </p><p>“We’ll see.” </p><p>He opened the door as you grabbed a tip from your bag. Your unusual requests deserved your spending money. It was all good fun. You enjoyed George the moment you met him, and you were sure the staff bringing desserts at ten o’clock at night would not mind the lack of conversation. The attendant wheeled in a cart and unloaded the tray onto the coffee table quietly. When they were finished, you slipped the cash into their jacket pocket where they kept their pens and gave them a smile. Steve nodded at them as they left the room with the cart. After the door was closed, you chuckled at how ridiculous you were being. </p><p>You went to bed well after midnight having found a movie on tv Steve had not watched yet. You closed the doors in between the rooms and laid down in the comfortable mattress, drifting off quickly.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had probably been a couple of hours when you opened your eyes again because there was this sense of a presence in the room. Someone was standing and looking out of the bedroom window. Your heartbeat quickened and you were worried Steve was too far away to get his attention before this person pulled anything on you. When their face was revealed by the streetlights shining below, you relaxed. Steve’s eyes looked worried and his hands were in his pockets. </p><p>“Steve? What’s wrong?” you said, sitting up in bed. You startled him a little as he turned quickly to look at you.  </p><p>“Nothing. Sorry. I’m just having difficulty sleeping. I usually go to the gym or for a run.” </p><p>“You still can. I won’t go anywhere.” </p><p>“Are you sure? I won’t be long. I’ll take my earpiece so FRIDAY can alert me.” </p><p>You smiled at the darkness and leaned back into your previous position. He did not require your permission but it was funny he was asking.  </p><p>“Go for it.” </p><p>“I’ll be back soon.” </p><p>He left the bedroom by closing the doors and you could hear the one to the hall close after another minute. By the time you woke up the second time, on this occasion to the sound of your alarm, Steve was back and watching what sounded like the morning news in the next room. It was raining out and you were hoping your plans were still on for the day. The door was cracked. He must have checked on you when he got back. You got out of bed and prepared for the day. </p><p>You dressed business casual and planned to grab your rain jacket for when you all went to lunch. You placed your earpiece in, thinking you may need to ask FRIDAY for a ride later although Steve would probably drive so John would stay in the dark as to who he was and where they worked. He could find out that information if this thing went anywhere. Steve knocked on the door. </p><p>“Jane, are you ready?” </p><p>“Yeah, I’m just putting my belt on.” </p><p>You opened the door and looked up at him. </p><p>“Good morning. How was your run?” </p><p>“Good. Sorry again about that. I’m sure it isn’t comforting to know I wander.” </p><p>“No worries, Steve. As long as I get my sleep.” </p><p>You finished putting your belt on and got your jacket out of your bag. </p><p>“Let’s go.” </p><p>You followed Steve through the hall and into the elevator. You studied him for a moment. </p><p>“Your beard looks redder today.” </p><p>“Really?” he said and rubbed his chin. </p><p>“Just a little.” </p><p>“Hm.” </p><p>You sniffed a laugh and the elevator pinged, landing on the floor of some of the seminars. The first one went by quickly and in the downtime, you and Steve went down to the lobby to fetch breakfast from the café. You ate quietly, every once in a while, mentioning the movie from the night before. John arrived at the hotel at that point and noticed you sitting in the café. </p><p>“Good morning, Jane,” he said cheerfully, once he was closer to the table. </p><p>“Good morning. Frank and I are enjoying our breakfast if you want to join us.” </p><p>“I’d like to, but I was hoping to go to the seminar at nine so I should grab a seat before it starts. We’re still on for lunch, yeah?” </p><p>“Yeah,” you said with a smile. </p><p>“All right, I’ll see you later. Bye Fred.” he said before smiling and walking away. </p><p>You watched him leave and when he disappeared into the elevator you looked at Steve. He had the paper lowered and was looking at you with his head tilted. </p><p>“What?” you asked. </p><p>“He doesn’t even remember my fake name, he must really like you,” he explained. </p><p>“Oh my gosh, I hadn’t realized.” </p><p>You laughed and he rolled his eyes, smiling and went back to his newspaper. The rest of the morning went smoothly. You made it to every seminar you planned on getting to and Steve probably paid more attention than you did which was admirable because you were so sure he found this to be a nap. When it was lunch time, you were in the lobby again, leaving the hotel. </p><p>“How is your day going?” asked someone behind you. </p><p>You turned and saw a friendly face. </p><p>“Hi George. My day is great,” you said. </p><p>“How is yours?” asked Steve. </p><p>“Good, thanks for asking. Do you need anything right now?” </p><p>“No, we’re okay. We’re about to go out to lunch. Do you have a break soon?” </p><p>“In an hour.” </p><p>“Here,” you said and handed him a bill, “get a snack or something.” </p><p>He grinned, “Yes, ma’am.” </p><p>You smiled back and glanced at your watch. </p><p>“Catch you later,” you said. </p><p>“Bye, George,” added Steve. </p><p>You walked to the front doors with the captain as he talked to FRIDAY to have her pull up to the sidewalk. </p><p>“Did he say he was outside?” he asked. </p><p>“Yeah, he texted me a couple minutes ago that he was out here.” </p><p>You threw your jacket on and Steve held the door for you after exiting first and scanning the area outside. John smiled at you from where he was standing under the awning, keeping safe from the rain. </p><p>“I was waiting for you before asking for a cab to be hailed.” </p><p>“That’s okay, we have a car,” you said and pointed. He glanced to where you were pointing. </p><p>Steve said, “Shall we?” over the sound of the rain. </p><p>All three of you climbed into the car, Steve driving this time, so FRIDAY remained secretly in yours and Steve’s ears. The drive was smooth and did not take too long since it was just a few blocks. You would have been happy to walk if it was a clear day, but it was also nice to sit close to John again. He held your hand and gave it a kiss on the back which was almost too much cheese to handle. </p><p>“You look pretty today.” </p><p>“Just today?” you smartly asked. He smiled at your humor.  </p><p>Lunch went as well as the car ride. You laughed with John and he flirted as much as he could before it became obnoxious. Towards the end, he was leaning over the table, holding your hands in his. </p><p>“May I suggest dinner tonight?” </p><p>“That would be great. Where do you want to go?” </p><p>“My hotel?” </p><p>You smirked. You would have instantly said ‘yes’ but you realized you would put Steve in an uncomfortable situation which would not be very comfortable for you either. You would play it cool and try your hardest not to just go with him then. He had a fantastic physique even in his suits and you wondered what a night with him would be like. Was this moving too fast? Maybe for an HR conference. </p><p>“Who will watch Frank?” you joked. </p><p>“Oh, come on, Jane. Don’t you want to have a bit of fun?” </p><p>“I like fun,” you said, faking some shyness, “if you were in the same hotel, I’d oblige you, but I don’t like traveling around much in this city.” </p><p>He squeezed your hands and gave you a flirty look. </p><p>“I’m serious!” you said and giggled. </p><p>He groaned and smiled at you. </p><p>“All right, I won’t try to convince you.” </p><p>You hummed, reveling in your small victory, even if it was a loss for you too. You knew Steve would not be okay with you galivanting around the city with a stranger. Steve walked over to the table soon after and said, </p><p>“There are only fifteen minutes until the next seminar you were wanting to attend.” </p><p>“Oh, geez. I haven’t been watching the time. Thank you, Frank.” </p><p>“I’ll get the check, go on and get to the seminar. I planned on going to the one o’clock,” John said. </p><p>“Are you sure?” you asked, getting up from your chair and putting your jacket on. </p><p>“Yeah, please,” he smiled, “I’ll see you both at breakfast tomorrow.” </p><p>“Okay, bye. Thank you for lunch.” </p><p>You gave his cheek a peck and winked before leaving with Steve. The people tending the doors opened them for the both of you and Steve helped you get to the car quickly, waiting at the curb of the street. FRIDAY was in your ear saying, </p><p>“The weather will be this way until you leave tomorrow. The drive should be smooth back to the hotel and back to headquarters.” </p><p>“Thank you, FRIDAY,” you said as you squished into the backseat with Steve. </p><p>“How was your lunch?” he asked. </p><p>“Good. He wanted to get dinner together too.” </p><p>“Wanted to?” </p><p>“At his hotel... I told him there was no time to find a sitter for you.” </p><p>You smiled at him and he grunted his response and shot you a smile. </p><p>“Nah, I told him I don’t like running around. Besides, the rest of the day will be tiring, and dessert was so good last night, we might as well order from the hotel.” </p><p>“That sounds like a good plan.” </p><p>He leaned his head back and tilted his head toward you. </p><p>“How was your lunch?” you asked, “any cute waitresses?” </p><p>“I hadn’t noticed. I read the rest of the paper from today and talked to Bucky on the phone.” </p><p>“How is he? Does he miss you yet?” </p><p>“He had an update actually about where HYDRA locations might be. One as close as Pennsylvania.” </p><p>“Wow. That is close.” </p><p>“Too much for comfort.” </p><p>“Yeah,” you said quietly, leaning your head back too and giving him a small smile. There was a stress you had not felt before building in your body about hearing HYDRA information and you wondered what it could be from. You would be glad tomorrow to be going back to the compound.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>FRIDAY parked out front and you all exited the car. Steve got the hotel door for you after you both bolted from the car to the awning to keep from getting wet. You made it to the seminar a couple minutes earlier and you sat in the back with Steve. The rest of the afternoon was spent in lectures learning about techniques in the field. </p><p>The last one ended at eight and you were famished. </p><p>“The first thing we do back in the room is ordering dinner.” </p><p>Steve grinned and nodded, calling the elevator to the floor you were on. George was in it when it dinged open. </p><p>“You’re still working?” you asked, surprised to see him and joining him on the elevator. </p><p>“Yeah, um, I picked up a shift.” </p><p>“All right, all right. How has your day been?” </p><p>“Good. Do you all need anything?” </p><p>You looked at Steve who shook his head and said,  </p><p>“No, sir. We’re just hungry and retiring for the day.” </p><p>“Okay.” </p><p>“Sorry we haven’t had more requests for you. I think we’re easy people.” </p><p>“That’s okay. I find things to do.” </p><p>“I’m sure!” </p><p>The elevator pinged and opened to yours and Steve’s floor. </p><p>“We’ll see you tomorrow, George,” Steve said. </p><p>“Bye, guys,” he said, and you smiled at the informality. He looked worried he had crossed a line. </p><p>You left out a little laugh. </p><p>“Goodnight.” </p><p>The elevator doors closed on his brilliant smile. You turned and hooked your arm in Steve’s. </p><p>“What’s for dinner, Frank?” </p><p>“A sandwich,” he said with no hesitation. </p><p>“You’ve been giving this some thought.” </p><p>“Yes, I have,” he said matter-of-factly. </p><p>You chuckled and he opened the room door with the key card. He gave you a little push on your back when you unhooked your arms. You picked up the menu and looked at the sandwiches. Steve told you what he wanted, so you picked up the room phone and placed the order. You sat in an armchair and started to flip through channels as Steve washed his face in the bathroom. Half an hour later there was a knock on the door. </p><p>“I’ll get it if you’ll grab a tip,” you said. </p><p>You answered the door to a couple of men, one pushing the cart and the other carrying bottles of water. Why the bottles of water, you were not sure. They were also in different uniforms than the guy who came up last night. </p><p>“Here is your order,” said the one pushing the cart into the room. You gave them a confused look but figured they just had not read the room’s requirements and switched your look to a friendly smile. Steve moved from where he was standing and stood behind you.  </p><p>“Is there anything else either of you will need brought up?” the cart pusher asked as his water carrier shut the door.  </p><p>This was not normal. Steve put his hands on your hips and moved you to the side, then after a moment of silence where the men stared each other down, he kicked the cart back into the guy who was pushing it and your hand flew to your mouth in shock. A full fight went down in front of you as you threw anything you could at the men fighting Steve. He gave one a final punch to the face of the water carrier, knocking him out and then he pushed the other one against the wall behind the front door and punched him until he fell unconscious too. You did not know what to feel or what to do. You looked at Steve and you could feel your face in a state of worry. He looked back at you and rubbed his hands together and breathed heavily for a moment before saying, </p><p>“Grab your things.” </p><p>You nodded and hurried to the bedroom. You packed all your things quickly and cleared the bathroom. You grabbed your bag and heard Steve say, </p><p>“FRIDAY, meet us two blocks North.” </p><p>You wanted to cry from how stressed you were feeling. Maybe hyperventilating would come before tears. Steve finished getting his stuff together and he looked at you when you walked in the living room. You stared at the men on the floor, afraid to get close to them even if they were out cold. </p><p>“Jane,” Steve said, quietly, “we need to go.” </p><p>He held out his hand to you and you looked at it. </p><p>“Steve,” you could barely say anything. You both were just going to leave? </p><p>“Take my hand.” </p><p>You did as you were told, and he gently pulled you through the room and helped you step over the bodies to get to the door. Once you made it to the hall, he pulled a little harder to get you to move faster. </p><p>“There may be more of them.” </p><p>He directed you to the stairwell and you it took you a few minutes to make it down all the way to the lobby. He cautiously opened the door and peeked out as you caught some of your breath. He looked at you after checking the coast. </p><p>“Are you okay?” </p><p>“I don’t know. What’s going on?” </p><p>“They were probably HYDRA agents. It was a good thing you requested something as silly as a silent delivery.” </p><p>Your face was giving you away about how terrified you were. All you had to do was make it to FRIDAY. </p><p>“We need to keep going.” </p><p>You nodded and followed him out of the stairwell, hand in hand. George was at the front desk, leaning over it and talking to an attendant. He looked up and when he saw the two of you, he perked up but quickly, the smile faded when he realized you were leaving with a scared look on your face and Steve looking around and acting cautious. </p><p>“Are you all right?” he asked as the both of you neared. </p><p>Steve looked at him, let go of your hand to place it on George’s shoulder. </p><p>“Look, don’t go to our room until two guys in black uniforms leave. Don’t let anyone go up there. We’ll be in touch,” he said in hushed tones. </p><p>And with that, he grabbed your hand again and you gave George a friendly smile before heading out the front doors. It was still a downpour outside. You stuck closer to Steve’s side and he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. The pace was steady and not many people were out, trying to get through the rain. You were starting to feel the adrenaline leave your body as your breathing steadied and your heart rate went down. Exhaustion filled your body and your hunger was seeping back into your veins. </p><p>FRIDAY was in your ears telling the both of you she was parked in front of a convenience store. Once you reached her, Steve opened the trunk and put the bags away while you got inside the back. Steve climbed in next to you and the doors locked. </p><p>“Where to?” FRIDAY asked. </p><p>“The compound,” said Steve. </p><p>You would have to sleep off your hunger and your fear of being followed or stopped. It took a while to suppress your needs and fall asleep, but you succeeded eventually. To the sound of Steve murmuring through his earpiece with someone and the rain falling on the windows.</p><p>You woke up to Steve nudging you and it felt like it could be déjà vu if there were a hotel instead of the Avengers compound outside of the car. You got out, taking your bag from Steve when he unloaded it and ran up the stairs to get inside. You were met inside the common area by Sam and Bucky. It was the middle of the night and you wanted to go to bed more than you wanted to eat at this point. They gave you sympathetic looks but did not say anything probably seeing the tiredness in your face. Having had their experience with this sort of thing, they would talk to Steve about the situation without you or until they needed to talk to you. </p><p>“Goodnight,” you said quietly as you left them in the common area.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a couple of days after you were back to work as usual when Sam visited you in your office. </p><p>“Hi, Jane. Can we talk a minute?” </p><p>“Of course, come in.” </p><p>You finished what you were working on as he sat across from you. </p><p>“I just wanted to see if you were okay and ask you about what happened.” </p><p>“Oh, well of course. I’m doing all right. I was shaken up, I think, but Steve handled the situation well. I hardly did anything to help, if help is what you call throwing things at the assailants.” </p><p>“If you could walk me through the situation, maybe I could better understand.” </p><p>You told him the entirety of those couple of days. He took a few notes on a tablet he was carrying and seemed to be pleased with your ability to draw things from memory. </p><p>“-and then I went to bed.” </p><p>There was a pause as he finished his notes. </p><p>“Thank you, Jane. I appreciate your willingness to openly discuss this situation. I realize it might be difficult for some to talk about what they witness.” </p><p>“It was shocking, and I understand as best I can. I guess I just don’t know that much about HYDRA.” </p><p>“Maybe you could talk to Bucky or Natasha. They have had a lot of experience with the group. Steve too.” </p><p>“I’ll keep that in mind when they come to visit me.” </p><p>“So, this John...,” he said, smirking. </p><p>“What about him?” </p><p>“Was he disappointed to find out you had to leave early?” </p><p>“Yes, my work emergency put a damper in his plans, he said.” </p><p>You smiled at Sam and continued, </p><p>“He’s called and texted me every day since then. I think he wants to meet up again in a couple of weeks.” </p><p>“He seems like an all right guy. Just be careful if you do go for a visit. We don’t know if they were after you or after Steve.” </p><p>Your heart sank.  </p><p>“Why would they come after me?” </p><p>“You work closely with all of us now, Jane. No offense, but you are somewhat of an easy target. Just keep your head low until we get the Pennsylvania location figured out. You’ll be safer then; all of us will.” </p><p>You nodded. What a damper. Sam left after the conversation was over and you went back to work. You sighed and looked forward to the next time you would see John. </p><p>_______ </p><p>The next day you had a meeting with Bucky. It was the typical one you shared but this time you planned on asking more about HYDRA. </p><p>“How have you been since the attack?” he asked off the bat. </p><p>“Attack? Is that what you would call it?” </p><p>“Sure, you were targeted, and your safety threatened, I’d say that’s an attack.” </p><p>“Well I’m doing okay. I feel safe here, so I’m not worried about them coming to start what they couldn’t finish again. I think I’m just still surprised it happened.” </p><p>“It isn’t easy dealing with HYDRA,” he explained, “a great portion of my life was under their thumb, being brainwashed over and over to go dark and do their bidding.” </p><p>His voice grew bitter as he spoke. </p><p>“We don’t have to discuss this. You could tell me about softball practice or the VA meetings or even-” </p><p>“No, actually it’s okay. Now that you’re in this line of work, it’s best you understand the ins and outs of what we do and what we’ve gone through. I’ll talk about the VA after.” </p><p>You nodded and he continued speaking. His story was emotional and not quite pieced together. He went dark for a lot of it, being put back under for years until they needed him or when he did the missions they asked of the Winter Soldier. All he could remember was from psychotherapy in Wakanda and even that was fuzzy. </p><p>“I’m grateful I don’t have a lot of details for you. None of the things I did were good. I killed people. Good people with great influence too. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it’s only been a few years that I’ve been free. Thanks to Steve believing I could come back. And thanks to the people in Wakanda for giving me my mind clear of their tricks. There are still traces of that person inside of me, I’m sure of it, but he hardly has any power over me anymore.” </p><p>“That’s beautiful, Bucky. I’m happy you have a new lease on life. You deserve it more than anyone I know. To be a prisoner in and out of your body does not seem like a life at all.” </p><p>“It wasn’t. So, I still see someone every month and I have treatments and checkups every year in Wakanda just to keep the progress we’ve all made.” </p><p>“And how do those usually go? When is your next treatment?” you asked. </p><p>“In a couple of months. They go well. I like to see everyone. The doctors are understanding and Shuri is hilarious. I think there has been so much progress because I’m relaxed there, and... I’m not worried about what will happen when I go to sleep or wake up as they take care of me. They make sure my arm is in working order and give it upgrades every time. Those are usually what my vacations are.” </p><p>“Right. I remember you mentioning your vacations every year there. I had no idea work was involved though. You know you could spend more than one week there. Maybe spend more time with Shuri?” you suggested with a smile on your face. </p><p>“Oh,” he said, understanding what you meant, “she’s not interested. She’s smart and has no time for relationships.” </p><p>“Okay, I was just thinking even as friends, you could just enjoy the city together. I can always ask others to tag along. I’m sure no one would deny a trip to that great country.” </p><p>“Yeah, maybe. I’ll think about it... let’s talk about something else.” </p><p>You smiled at his shyness and brought up the VA again for him to start off with for the rest of the meeting you had together.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next week, Natasha came in for her meeting and you were again prepared to tentatively bring up HYDRA. After she raved about her barhopping adventure with Rhodey and Wanda, then went into a tirade about bad drivers, she noticed you were not acting normally. </p><p>“Is something wrong?” she asked. </p><p>“No, keep going,” you said, fixing your posture and trying to actively listen better. </p><p>“It’s really not that important of a conversation today. I didn’t do much different in the last month so what’s up? It’s got to be about last week so dish.” </p><p>“Alright, well it was something I’ve never been around before. I’ve never seen someone get punched in the face right in front of me or act aggressively threatening towards me or a friend before. I understand there are life-endangering components of your job, but I never even thought it would have anything to do with me when I accepted this job.” </p><p>“Are you regretting it?” </p><p>“I wouldn’t say I’m regretful... maybe just caught off-guard.” </p><p>“I can give you self-defense lessons if you want and teach you some field tactics so you can read the signs of any incoming danger,” she offered. </p><p>“Okay, I’ll give you notice. Maybe in a couple of weeks?” </p><p>“Sure.” </p><p>“Will you tell me about your experience with HYDRA? Only if you feel comfortable, obviously.” </p><p>“Oh yeah, of course.” </p><p>She went on to explain her history with HYDRA. Mentioning decades of her time with the KGB, her training, her sterilization and her eventual exit from the organization that had controlled her earlier life. HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD long before this and silently took over as she was trying to rebuild her life. The fight against HYDRA has now been a long one. One of the most consistent enemies of her life. She even mentioned various missions. All the times they had to use the Stark Relief Foundation. </p><p>“Can I ask you a question?” </p><p>“Yeah.” </p><p>“How in the world do they keep coming back?” you asked. </p><p>“We ask ourselves that every day. We’ve narrowed down targets but their following keeps growing. We are still trying to figure out why. Vision worries about his interference thinking he will undo the minds of the agents before we have a real chance at interrogating them. He’s grown an anger for them, so he ducks out of missions.” </p><p>You jotted some items down. </p><p>“Okay, thank you for sharing with me. Do you mind if I ask you follow up questions if I have any?” </p><p>“I feel like I just completed a survey.” </p><p>“Sorry. I know you just shared your life story but it’s unnatural to go into any other discussion aside from the possibility of more of this. I’d like to make it clear I’m always looking for more information.” </p><p>“I understand. I’ll be available to you, Jane.” </p><p>You smiled at her and she smirked. You were glad there was a great need to be helpful inside all of the team members. It made your job a lot simpler.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve walked into your office at the worst time. It had been almost six weeks since the conference and you were smiling at your phone from the text messages you were receiving from John. The last couple of weeks, he had been asking you to come to Pennsylvania, so he could take you to Hershey and see where he works/get a private tour. You could spend an extended weekend there with him and most likely have a wonderful time, but Steve was having trouble “allowing” it.  You were in no position to need his approval, you could do as you pleased, so you wished he would stop worrying about it. You chalked it up to the night at the hotel during the attack. The target was still unknown, so sure it was a little intense to think it could have been you instead of Captain America, but surely Hershey would be safe. Who doesn’t like a solid piece of chocolate? Besides, John had bodyguards and you had taken a few lessons from Natasha now on self-defense. Aim for the nose or the groin. You could handle that. </p><p>“How are you today, Steve?” you asked as you placed your phone upside-down on your desk and looked at his face of concern as he sat across from you. </p><p>“Fine. I came in here to offer to travel with you this weekend if you still intend on going.” </p><p>“I do still intend on going and I don’t believe I need to be escorted to a small town in Pennsylvania compared to a NYC. The worst to happen to me is probably like a- a car accident and FRIDAY is driving, so I’m not worried. You shouldn’t be worried either.” </p><p>“I just can’t see how you trust a guy you barely know.” </p><p>“I know him well enough. We’ve talked every day on the phone, and he keeps in touch through text messages and voicemails. He’s sweet and charming. Besides, you have more important work to do than keep me company.” </p><p>“I’m just-” </p><p>“Worried, I know and I’m losing my patience. Talk about something else. About yourself so I can pretend you still don’t know so much about my personal life.” </p><p>Steve sighed, but conceded, understanding he was not going to break through here and he should just let it go. </p><p>___ </p><p>Friday night, he met you in the common area while a few other members of the team strewn about doing other things. You were just coming from your office and planned on making something quickly to eat before hopping in bed. </p><p>“Hi, Steve.” </p><p>You opened the fridge door and he followed you into the kitchen. </p><p>“Please, Jane. Don’t go alone tomorrow. I don’t feel comfortable with you going alone and if Tony were here, he would want someone to go with you too.” </p><p>You whipped around and slammed the fridge door closed. </p><p>“Steve, please get it through your skull that I’m going tomorrow, and I don’t need help or advice in my dating life. And who says I would listen to Tony anyway? He’s enjoying California right now and I’ll go enjoy Philadelphia tomorrow. I have a good feeling about tomorrow. I’ve been out several times in the past few weeks ever since New York and no one has come out of the shadows to attack me. Not everyone is HYDRA.” </p><p>You opened the door to the fridge again and grabbed some leftovers from lunch. </p><p>“Look, Steve. I’ll give you updates; would that help? I’ll keep FRIDAY in my ear at all times, okay? You can’t come with me though. I still require my independence and you need to enjoy your hobbies and life outside of work. You asking to come along is work, so cut it out.” </p><p>“Okay,” he resigned yet again, “as long as you’re updating and keeping FRIDAY intact, I think that will suffice.” </p><p>You smiled at him. </p><p>“Lovely five-dollar word Steve.” </p><p>He gave you a smile back.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>John looked handsome, smiling at you as he held the door of his car open for you. You had just left the car FRIDAY had brought you in which you had pretended to drive and were walking over to him. The sun shone on his brunette hair, giving it a nice shine. He pulled you into a long kiss before you climbed in. You buckled up as John sat next to you and the driver pulled away from the curb. You felt light and knew today would be great. You thought this for ten or so minutes while you chatted with John about what had been going on in his life. He was having particular troubles with a client who would not bend to his many charms. </p><p>“Maybe they have their reasons. Are they important to the future of your company?” </p><p>“Desperately. She has great integrity, but I think after some time and work, she’ll be more willing to offer up the information we need... and all on a silver platter.” </p><p>“You sure are confident. Good luck,” you said with a smile. </p><p>He paused the conversation, looking at you intently and then squinted his eyes, smirking and he seemed to have lost some of his friendliness. </p><p>“Tell me Jane... how long have you been working for the Avengers?” </p><p>Your smile faded and you looked at him confused as your heart dropped. </p><p>“I- I worked for Stark Industries... not the Avengers and that was a few years ago.” </p><p>“I know you work with them, Jane, quit the charade.” </p><p>He was starting to look at you angrily, losing his patience rapidly. </p><p>“John, please, I don’t know anything about them or their jobs.” </p><p>“Their jobs?! They destroy our operations, that’s their job! Obviously, I’m needing other sorts of information, quit being daft.” </p><p>You were silent after that because you were afraid he may hurt you. His anger was only growing. After he gazed out of the window of the car for a few moments, calming himself, he continued, </p><p>“We’re going to take you to a special place where we can work together. I don’t want to disappoint you but where you will be staying... it’s nothing like your hotel in New York City. We’ll have to continue our conversation then.” </p><p>He grabbed a briefcase from the front seat and opened it away from your view. You were wishing Steve were here. The regret and terror were filling you to the brim. </p><p>“We can’t have you knowing where we’re taking you, so I’ll need you to use this chloroform.” </p><p>You could not do something like that to yourself. You wished he would not talk like this, like it was a day-to-day situation to ask someone to put a small towel over their face to knock themselves out. After weeks of hearing his voice over the phone and exchanging sweet text messages, you were unsure who this person in front of you was. He handed you the towel doused in the chemical and you gave him a pleading look. </p><p>“Just do it,” he said, annoyed at your hesitation. </p><p>“I can’t,” you said quietly. </p><p>In a flash, he was pushing your hand with the towel into your face and you were trying to fight him off, successfully kicking and punching him, making him back away for a moment. You were already feeling the effects on your vision and mind. The world was getting fuzzy. He took a minute to watch you struggle to stay awake before pushing it, gently this time, back onto your mouth and nose.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You woke up in a cold, wet looking cell. The bars at the front of it were thick and closed off from the hallway outside. The walls around you were dark and you were horizontal on a piece of the wall sticking out meant to be a bed or a bench of sorts. You sat up and saw a large man standing outside of the cell. He was the driver who brought you here. Your body felt heavy and you tried to make as little noise as possible, but he still turned and saw you were awake. <br/>“I hope you enjoyed your nap. He needed you to be out for longer than your body wanted, so he gave you a few more sniffs while I was driving. Now you get to stay awake until he’s ready for you. His orders.” <br/>Your head pounded and you had no idea what time it was or where you were. All of this was very disorienting whether you had been drugged or not. <br/>“Get up, walk around. Stay awake or I’ll have to make you stay awake. He needs you to be tired for the experiment.” <br/>You tried speaking but your head pain made you wince instead. You started to cough deeply as you walked from wall to wall. Walking was probably going to help you more than it was going to hurt you at this point. You could barely think straight and that was something you needed back. <br/>You walked back and forth for hours and your mind was coming back but your body was fading. You were hungry and dazed with how confusing this all was and hoped for a shred of confidence that you were going to make it out alive. You thought of Steve and all your updating failures. Would he figure out something was wrong? Then your hand flew up to your ear, feeling the earpiece still inside. You glanced at the guard, your heartbeat quickening, causing your headache to spike in pain. You waited for him to pace down the hallway like he did every once in a while to break from keeping an eye on you. When he was out of view, you pushed on the earpiece, activating it from its sleep. Relief filled your veins. <br/>“FRIDAY?” you breathed. <br/>“Yes, Ms. Hart,” she said into your ear. <br/>“Oh FRIDAY, it’s so good to hear your voice. I’m in trouble,” you whispered, your voice breaking from emotion. <br/>“I cannot see where you are. Are you in Pennsylvania still?” she asked. <br/>“I don’t know where I am. I was drugged and brought here.” <br/>“Do you know who your captors are?” <br/>“John, if that’s even his real name. I’m sure he’s with HYDRA.” <br/>“Agents have been notified. What else can I do for you?”  <br/>“Advice. Tell me, how does someone take down a huge person while they are exhausted?” <br/>“You likely will not be able to, but what I can suggest is to use your elbows. Your elbows are some of the strongest parts of your body with little force behind them.” <br/>“Thank you, FRIDAY,” you said as quietly as you could. <br/>Half an hour later, she spoke again, <br/>“Help is on the way.” <br/>You had to stay silent due to the brute being back around your cell again but on the inside, you were filling with utter glee at the thought of anyone from the compound coming to take you away from here. You hoped they would be able to find you quick; you were not sure when John would come back. <br/>You were unsure how much time had past, surely it was the middle of the night and you were struggling to keep yourself up. Your knees were shaking, and your feet and ankles hurt. The slab of wall sticking out was looking so nice. The guard had gone away for a little bit now. Maybe if you just sat down. You seated yourself on the block and felt your knees and hips relax, still shaking some. You leaned back, further resting your body and could not resist the temptation to close your eyes.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You gasped from the sudden chill that had enveloped your body. Your eyes snapped open and you saw John holding a bucket which had held the water that was now on you and the wall behind. His crony still had his disdainful look on his face, standing behind him in the hall. <br/>“Get up!” John yelled. <br/>You stood, body aching and hating yourself for obeying but you were afraid. You guessed you were able to sleep for only a little while before the water woke you up because your body ached and pained. He threw the bucket at you and then grabbed your arm, pulling you out into the hall. There was no gentleness in him with the way he handled you. Your mind went racing even in its exhausted state. He shoved you onto the floor near one of the opposite cells. Your knees screamed in pain, but it was the least of your worries at the moment because you heard movement in the dark cell and then someone was creeping closer to you. You started sliding back but John grabbed your hair to then push your face into the bars. It was too dark to show who... or what was in there. All you felt was their tongue run up the length of your cheek and your face turn into a grimace. <br/>“He likes you.” <br/>John pulled you back and you made a noise at the pain from your head. He let go and pulled up on your arm to make you stand again. You groaned at your exhaustion. He put an arm around your waist and helped you walk to wherever he was planning to go. You heard the heavy footsteps of his large helper behind the both of you. As long as he was not the one hitting you, maybe you could survive long enough for help to arrive. You wanted to talk to FRIDAY. You wanted to ask if anyone was near. <br/>You shuffled your feet around a corner and were met with a large stairwell. It was dark in the downstairs floor and light going up. You were hoping for the lighter option. John released his hold on you after he led you to the railing of the landing. He looked down on you. You had been so wrong about him. <br/>“I know you have information, Jane,” he said in his quiet, gentle voice you had grown to love. You naturally relaxed at his change of tone. How could he flip a switch in his head so easily? He grabbed either side of your head and you felt yourself wanting more than ever for this to be over. For him to let you leave and pretend it was all a bad dream. You were heartbroken. Then he leaned in to kiss you. How was he so warm in this cold place? Your eyes closed and you felt more relief fill you up. You reached up to place your fingers on his head and he quickly grabbed your wrist and pushed it back down. You could hardly put up a fight anymore. <br/>“Tell me something, Jane. Anything,” he said, trying at sincerity but it was obviously faked. <br/>“I already told you: I have no information.” <br/>He slapped you hard across your face and kept hold of your wrist so you would stay mostly upright. <br/>“You have information about the system they work with and about their ways. You can tell us when they’ll be alone and vulnerable, can’t you? You’re the one directing them to the outside. All you have to do is give up one person and I won’t hit you again.” <br/>After looking at him without saying a word for a few seconds, he backhanded you and let you fall a few steps down into the darkness. You were sure many parts of your body were deeply bruised. He sighed, acting disappointed. <br/>“I guess I’ll have to coerce it out of you the hard way.” <br/>He stepped down to where you were and pulled you up by your hair again. Your whole body hurt. You winced from the pain and struggled to walk with him down the rest of the steps. He flicked the cold lights on and pulled you forward in front of him. He held you up at your shoulders and you looked around at the strange setup. It looked like an awful, old operating room with metal tables, one with some straps on either side for a patient’s legs and arms. You started to feel nervous and the dread was mounting. <br/>“Look around, Jane. See anything you wish to explore?... Your silence is telling me you want to be made to speak. Is that the truth?” <br/>You shook your head, your eyes welling with helplessness and he shoved you into a metal table. <br/>“Then tell me where they will be!” he screamed. <br/>Your head was pounding again, and you felt like a few ribs had broken. There was nothing at that moment you could grasp onto, not that you had the strength to anyway, so your body slumped over the table and you fell to the floor onto your back. He stood at a counter on the wall and then turned, stepped over you and moved across the room to other cabinets. Your eyes followed him as you groaned and moved your head to watch what he was doing. <br/>“You’re going to regret this Jane. In just a few minutes, you will be in immense pain which could have been easily avoided… I thought you liked me.” <br/>He was prepping the table with the straps. What was he going to do? Torture had been in the back of your mind ever since you arrived here.  <br/>“I did,” you said weakly. <br/>“But no love for me anymore?... I’m hurt,” he said sarcastically. <br/>His words stung. You had fallen for him easily and quicker than you did most of the time. Maybe it was the distance, maybe it was the sickeningly sweet charm.  <br/>He worked his way back over to you, holding a syringe of clear liquid. <br/>“Please...” you pleaded of him, not wanting to hurt anymore. <br/>“You can stop this all right now if you concede to tell me information. Let’s start with James Barnes, shall we? He had such a malleable brain before he was turned back into an upstanding citizen by your foolish friends in Wakanda. What are his pastimes, his hobbies?” <br/>He was leaning over you, your back now to the cabinets under the metal table he threw you into. You looked up at his face then his crouched knees.  <br/>“Do you want me to hurt you, Jane?” <br/>You shook your head. <br/>“Then open your mouth and spit out what I want to hear,” he growled. <br/>Your mouth opened and out came something you regretted saying, <br/>“Never.” <br/>That was it. He snapped, backhanding you again, harder this time from having his body behind him. He set down the syringe on the table above your heads and dragged your body, by the arms to the table with the restraints. <br/>“You were such an easy target, Jane. Why the fight? Do you think someone is coming to rescue you? Do you think they can find this place? They won’t and they can’t, so I am going to teach you a lesson in obedience and then you will sing like a bird. Seems like a good deal to me. Eventually, we will just kill you and move on to someone else if you don’t cooperate. An agent maybe or we’ll get lucky and destroy someone from your adorable team without any assistance.” <br/>He yelled something in another language at the big guy who came into the room, walked over and lifted you up onto the table. He held your legs down so they could be fastened in first and then there was even less of a struggle when they took care of each arm. The man backed off into the hall again and John walked over to the syringe and picked it up. Looking at it briefly before slowly making his way back over to you.  <br/>“This will not be pleasant for you.” <br/>“Please,” you whispered, tears going down and around your temples. <br/>He injected the substance into your arm without another word. The pain was instantaneous and immeasurable, your eyes locking to the back of your head as the receptors in your mind panicked. Your heartbeat was in your ears and your head felt like it could explode. All of your nerves felt like they were on fire and there was no way to think straight. What was in the syringe was going to kill you. <br/>“I’ll be back shortly and this time... have answers.” <br/>You screamed to try and relieve the pain but it only hurt more. You tried getting out of the restraints but your body was too sensitive to the tugging on your skin. You whimpered and tears kept falling freely from your eyes as the pain last for what felt like hours. There was not a thing you could do or think of but soon your ears started ringing and everything went dark.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Your mind was coming to reality again. You were hearing distant noises and then feeling pains from various parts of your body. You were shivering and moving constantly for who knows for how long. You struggled to open your eyes. They were sore and tired just like the rest of your body. You had never felt so close to giving up and trying to go back to sleep forever. John might come back to give you more of that horrible substance. But before you could commit to anything, you heard more shuffling and noises, this time they were closer. </p><p>You would be happy if it were anyone but John. They would either be worse and kill you or show you a different kind of mercy and get you off this table. You coughed several times and could not stop to hear any other noises. You tasted blood in your mouth and wondered how long you had left before your body was beyond repair. Had you reached that point already? You continued coughing until you forced them down so you could hear the loud movements coming even closer. You stopped altogether when you got a short kick of whatever adrenaline you had left at the sound of gunshots ringing through the halls. What the hell was going on? </p><p>You tried to look at the door to see if anyone was coming into the room. Your head was tilted, and your neck strained to help your eyes search for understanding of the noise. You jolted in fear when you suddenly saw someone come in. But Natasha’s face came into view and you felt a flood of relief fill you from your bones. </p><p>You heard her say,  </p><p>“I found her. Downstairs.” </p><p>She rushed over to you and you watched her focus on freeing your arms. Your eyes leaked down the sides of your face and you heard loud steps coming from the stairs. Your eyes, hurting from the movement and the lights, closed and you let out a sigh as your legs released. </p><p> </p><p>You felt a strong hand under your neck and pull you up. Your legs swung to the side of the table and you opened your eyes. Steve was looking back at you while he helped hold you up, Bucky close behind him, next to Natasha. You started to falter, breaking down because seeing the expression he was giving you was breaking your heart more than it already had in the last couple of days. </p><p>“I’m sorry,” you managed to get out, “you were right.” </p><p>He hugged you close as you cried for a moment before he whispered, </p><p>“We have to get you to a hospital.” </p><p>You weakly nodded, your chin on his shoulder. He moved back to put space between the two of you and Bucky stepped forward to pick you up and carry you out of this place.  </p><p> </p><p>He took you up the flight of stairs to the roof. There was a Quinjet waiting and you felt yourself fading. Your sight was going hazy as you were filtering in and out of consciousness. You barely made out the backup they brought, who had been Wanda, make her way over to you as Bucky buckled you in tightly to a seat. You saw Wanda move to sit beside you and then the world went dark when she touched you.</p>
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<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next time you woke up, you were alone in a hospital room and heard arguing outside the door. You felt strange, rested and tired all at the same time. You searched around for the call button to the nurse’s station. It took a couple of seconds but when you pressed the button, the arguing stopped and instead you could hear someone being told to ‘stay quiet or we’ll ask you to leave’. </p><p>A nurse opened your door and you barely caught a glimpse of who was outside before the door shut again. Steve and Tony, maybe more.  </p><p>“Hello, I’m going to ask you a few questions if that is okay,” the nurse said pleasantly as she checked your vitals. </p><p>You nodded. </p><p>“Can you use your voice to answer?” </p><p>“Yes,” you answered, your voice a whisper. </p><p>“What is your full name?” </p><p>“Jane Wyatt Hart.” </p><p>“Okay, and do you know where you are?” </p><p>“A hospital?” </p><p>“And what is the last thing you remember?” </p><p>“I was on the Quinjet with Steve… Bucky, Wanda and Natasha.” </p><p>“Do you know what happened to you?” </p><p>“Not exactly. I remember being thrown around and then injected with something. I was so tired, I- I don’t remember anything else.” </p><p>“We have already checked of course but do you know where you were hurt and where were you injected?” </p><p>You indicated all the main areas and described the events as best you could remember them. </p><p>“Okay, Ms. Hart, how do you feel?” </p><p>“I’m not sure. I feel weak but I want to move.” </p><p>“Great! You should move a bit and let us know a little more about the level of pain you’re in. Your doctor will be in shortly to give you the rundown of all your injuries and what we have been doing to help you.” </p><p>“Thank you… How long- how long was I out?” </p><p>“…It has been nine days, Ms. Hart.” </p><p>“Oh.” </p><p>“I know that may be shocking to hear, but your body required time.” </p><p>You nodded. </p><p>“Would you like a visitor?”  </p><p>You nodded again. </p><p>“Okay,” she said and gave you a smile before stepping out of the room. You heard her say ‘one at a time’. There were a few moments that passed before Tony came into the room. He closed the door and walked over to the hospital bed. </p><p>“Glad you’re back.” </p><p>“Glad to be back,” your voice stronger. </p><p>“You scared all of us for a minute there.” </p><p>“One minute in all of nine days? I’d say that’s pretty good.” </p><p>“Yeah, you could have died and there was no on to call.” </p><p>“No, my parents died years ago. I thought you knew that.” </p><p>“I have a lot going on in my brain, missy. Anyway, your job is waiting for you so as soon as you’re better, Fury wanted me to tell you to get back in the office.” </p><p>You smiled and nodded, “How was vacation? How’s Morgan and Pepper?” </p><p>“They’re great. You should meet them.” </p><p>“Well, you should bring them back to New York then.” </p><p>He grinned and patted your arm. </p><p>“K, bye. Get to feeling better,” he said as he left through the door. </p><p>Next was Steve, who closed the door and walked over to your hand you were holding out. He grabbed it and said, </p><p>“You’ll listen to me now?” </p><p>You nodded, on the verge of tears because he really cared about you. They all did. You felt guilty for putting them through this, wasting their time when they could have done something else, something bigger to end HYDRA. </p><p>“What was the arguing outside?” you asked, trying to keep your emotions at bay and switch the conversation. </p><p>“It was about whether to transfer you or not. Of course, it’s your decision now that you are awake.” </p><p>“Where would I be transferred?” </p><p>“New York.” </p><p>“Where are we now?” </p><p>“Still in Pennsylvania.” </p><p>“I was here the whole time?” </p><p>He nodded. </p><p>“All right, well I’d like to go to New York as long as I am able.” </p><p>He smiled. You assumed that was his side of the argument. There was a knock on the door and your doctor entered with the nurse from a few minutes ago. </p><p>“Hello, Jane,” she said upon entering. </p><p>“Hi,” you said, and she looked at Steve who got the hint and made to leave. </p><p>“I’d like to discuss the injuries you sustained a little over a week ago. Are you comfortable doing that?” </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>“All right. We’re going to show you the injuries from the X-rays we took when you were brought in as well.” </p><p>She went through each injury, showing fractures, breaks and pictures of bruising you still had all over your body. Deep tissue scarring would occur, and you would have to use a cane for a few weeks as your strength regenerated. </p><p>“Your body was absolutely exhausted when you were brought in, so it was a relief to not have to perform a surgery on you immediately. We performed a small one to help your ribs. The substance you were injected with was an almost lethal mixture of chemicals. Thankfully, we have not seen any major side effects of the injection.” </p><p>“Okay,” you said, hesitantly. </p><p>“We have to keep monitoring you. The chemical reactions are still taking place in your body and we are not sure how it will change your own chemistry. We want you to stay here in Pennsylvania, but we completely understand your wanting to be in New York again.” </p><p>“I think I do want to be transferred, but I could stay here for another few days if you think that is the best thing for me.” </p><p>“I do. Another week, if you can manage. Now that you are awake, you might get cabin fever.” </p><p>“I’m sure I can find entertainment.” </p><p>She smiled at you and said doctorly things before leaving the room with the nurse. You used the remote on the bed to sit yourself up a little higher. You sighed and thought about what could possibly be happening to you. What did she mean by changing chemistry?</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next week was spent in different testing rooms and areas of your floor. You quickly realized this was an unusual hospital. There were only a few like it with a special cases floor apparently and you were not the only patient on the floor. You were the only one able to leave your room without extreme supervision. Not all of them were sick or had chemicals running through their veins which were not supposed to be there but there were many other types of cases. You had a couple of visitors but not many which was more incentive for you to move back to New York.<br/>Steve stayed in Pennsylvania with you. He felt guilty about the whole situation even after you assured him you were entirely responsible. He arranged for a car driven by FRIDAY to come down and retrieve you for your trip up to the other hospital your doctor was in contact with. They had the same system and department types.<br/>The drive was quiet, and you were wheeled around in a wheelchair by nurses and your tall companion. Your doctors had figured out the effects of the injection would be lasting but you could make a full recovery in a few months. Your muscles would need to time to strengthen and you were at risk for illnesses in the years to come. You took every day to think about your future. You tried not to dwell too much on what you could miss out on, but you knew being patient would be your best medicine.<br/>A month later, you were able to leave entirely. After hours of playing cards with Steve and watching sports or movies on television, you were more than ready to go back to the place you now referred to as home. The doctors found out no more about your case even with help from Tony and Dr. Strange. It was easy to believe it was mostly just something to physically harm and weaken you so you would oblige John and tell him information. Dr. Banner still received all your lab results just in case.<br/>Steve helped you pick out a cane to use for the indefinite future and the next day, you were slowly going to a FRIDAY car on your own. The drive was quiet again. You read and Steve did his best to draw in a moving vehicle.<br/>“You might have better luck taking pictures right now,” you stated after observing him for a couple of minutes. It had become one of your favorite pass times.<br/>He looked at you and your book then sighed.<br/>“Or reading. I’m not good at the activity though. I can read- but,” he said, awkwardly.<br/>“I know you can read, Steve,” you teased, “would you rather do something else? I’m sure there is a movie in here we could watch.”<br/>“Okay, I’m sure I’ll find that more entertaining than trying to salvage this drawing or watching you read.”<br/>You gave him a small laugh and nodded in agreement; he had done enough of that in the last month.<br/>“Do you not like the Quinjet?” he asked a few moments later as he started a movie search.<br/>“I don’t know. It just seems a bit overdone for a transport.”<br/>“It’s efficient,” he remarked.<br/>“Well, next time then.”<br/>“Hopefully there is no next time. You don’t have to go anywhere, Jane.”<br/>Your heart swelled. It was becoming more apparent over the last few weeks that you had made a good friend in Steve. You trusted him and he was back to normal with you for the most part, although you were a much more fragile person now, in his eyes and overall. He was sweet and giving of his time. There were a few days here and there when he would go to work, helping Bucky or the rest of the team members track down HYDRA agents or facilities, but he always came back. Every day was a trial for your body, especially your legs so you were okay with fighting it on your own when he was not there. Your failures kept you humbled, and you were not wanting a large audience.<br/>It was late in the night when FRIDAY pulled up to the front of the compound. Steve helped you out of the car and you used your cane and the handrail to reach the front doors. No one was working in the offices at this hour of course, and no one was in the common room once you had made it that far to see for yourself. It was nice to be back. Like a breath of fresh air. Steve placed his hand on your back like he had done so many times before to prod you forward.<br/>“Are you tired?” he asked.<br/>You nodded and continued moving.<br/>“Hungry?”<br/>“Not really. I think I’d rather sleep,” you replied.<br/>“Okay.”<br/>You sighed down the hallway to your bedroom. You were trying to hold onto what dignity you had left in front of this man. Not wanting to cry and apologize to him again for the dozenth time. Although this was more of a relieving feeling rather than a remorseful one. You would thank him instead of apologizing for once. You put your hand on the door handle and looked up at Steve.<br/>“…You’re a wonderful person and a fantastic friend. I’m glad I can call you that now after knowing you these past few months.”<br/>“Are you finally done being sorry?” he teased.<br/>You smiled and kept your face clear of tears.<br/>“Yes, I think so, I’m only grateful now,” you said.<br/>“Get some rest.”<br/>You nodded.<br/>“You too,” you said, quietly and opened your door. Steve’s room was on the other side of the common room down the hall, so he was essentially dropping you off. You gave him another small smile and left him in the hallway. <br/>You only had your necessary items with you from your time in the hospital: your new phone because the old one had been instructed to self-destruct, your new wallet with your IDs and your keys, with a small bag to hold it all and some clothes. You set everything down and decompressed in the bathroom. You steamed up the room and cleaned your face wanting to get rid of the day and go to sleep. You felt groggy and even with the steam around you, there was a chill in your body that would not go away. You sighed, turned everything off and prepared for bed, falling asleep instantaneously when your head hit the pillow.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It took you another week of rest before you felt you could walk over to your office and start work again. You were given gifts that day on your desk like you were a teacher. You smiled at all of your colleagues as they gave you well wishes throughout the day. You had especially missed the team but could not forget the others in your department working on agent files. You stayed well past everyone so you could try and get more work done and the lights dimmed outside your office as you continued on typing and reading from your computer, catching up on the team’s files. </p><p>They had been doing a lot more fieldwork and you wondered if they found a bulk of information at the HYDRA position you were brought to. There were plenty more activities and involvement going on outside of work too. Vision and Wanda had joined a cooking class. Bucky had visited the VA more often and you figured it was due to Steve’s absence but then there was a note about a singles’ night they were promoting which made you smiled to yourself. Bucky might have found a date. Natasha had gone on a trip which brought Banner into the compound again and now he had been convinced to live here among his friends. Sam and Peter had taken up running and teaching mixed martial arts at the local YMCA. </p><p>You were proud of what they were accomplishing. The notes of the representatives who met with them while you were out were promising. They all had positive things to say about getting out. The only thing they did not appreciate was looking over their shoulders everywhere they went but they seemed to all be careful and wary. </p><p>You sat back in your seat and stared at Steve’s picture in the file you had opened on your program’s dashboard. You hoped he had made it back to the real world in the week you had been back. You talked to everyone all week every day while you sat in the common room eating or watching the television. They all were business as usual except for him. He would stop and sit with you for hours again like he did at the hospital. The others would stop too for a quick chat or to say something meant for their HR rep, only in the evening or a meal would they actually join you. You had told him several times that you would be fine alone, you had books you could read and work you could do, but every time he would say, </p><p>“It’s okay, Jane, I’ve enjoyed actually relaxing for once.” </p><p>You would always comply with him. His presence was reckoning for not letting him attend to you in Pennsylvania. You were in a sweet reverie when your office door was knocked on and you looked through the glass to see Tony and Fury once again. Tony waving like an idiot. </p><p>They entered your office and sat down after saying their respective ‘hellos’. </p><p>“How are you?” Fury asked. </p><p>“Better,” you sighed, “I think I’ll be okay, getting back to work has been nice today.” </p><p>“You’re not growing any extra limbs, are you? Can you see through the walls?” Tony joked. </p><p>“Not yet, I’ll update you if I experience any strange side effects,” you said with a raised eyebrow. </p><p>“Good. Now tell us about what happened.” </p><p>You felt uneasy suddenly. You had not told anyone every detail of the situation yet. Your doctors and nurses knew every beating, but they hardly knew who put them there. You were not set up with a psychiatrist yet but you had plenty to tell them. John swooned you into giving him easy access to information. He had kissed you and giving you gentle touches all while hurting you. He had made you trust him blindly, not realizing you were in new territory with this job. The Avengers were not ones to be trifled with, but neither were their enemies. </p><p>You told them about the time at the hotel and the things leading up to the event. You did not go into too much detail; some things were better left kept inside your brain and unexposed to the world. They listened patiently to you as you described the events. </p><p>“You need to see a therapist,” said Fury. </p><p>You let out a small laugh and nodded. </p><p>“I know, it’s something I’d like to get past. I mostly wish my body would cooperate.” </p><p>“Give it time,” said Tony. </p><p>“That I know as well. I just don’t want to believe it... I may never be the same.” </p><p>“You will manage. We all do. Mourn your losses and pick yourself back up because there is work to do,” said Fury. </p><p>“Yes, sir. I don’t plan on going anywhere.” </p><p>“Good. We like you Hart... you have... heart.” </p><p>You rolled your eyes and smirked as Fury gave Tony a disappointed look at his joke. </p><p>“I think that’s all for now, Ms. Hart. We wanted to make sure you were okay and get our own rundown of the events. FRIDAY has been creating a file over it just for the records. I wish we could say all the HYDRA agents have been taken care of but we have no idea where this so-called ‘John’ is,” he said. </p><p>You shrugged. </p><p>“He could have easily left the place before they had made it there. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hid for a while or preyed on someone else. He just wants one at a time to be eliminated. I gave him no hints.” </p><p>“We didn’t think that would be an issue,” said Fury. </p><p>“I’m satisfied, let’s try to not meet like this again,” said Tony. </p><p>“Agreed.” </p><p>“Don’t work too hard on your first day back,” said Fury. </p><p>“I don’t plan on staying much longer.” </p><p>They made their ways to the door and said they would see you later and they held a discussion as they walked down the hall away from your office. You left after another hour of work and reading up on your clients. You were glad the sun was down, and it was late in the evening now, hopefully less of the team would be out and about. Some ended up in their rooms earlier than others to watch things alone or to do a quieter activity. You slowly made your way to the common room, using your cane tirelessly and you could hear someone in the kitchen area before you had opened the door. Bucky was putting away pans. He watched you struggle over to him and you sent a smirk to his worried face. </p><p>“How was it back at work?” he asked as he pulled a chair out for you at the bar. </p><p>“Fine. I learned more about everyone; I think. It is generous of you to spend more time at the VA to fill Steve’s shoes.” </p><p>“They are big shoes to fill.” </p><p>“I’ve noticed. His presence could be missed anywhere.” </p><p>“Yours was missed too.” </p><p>“Really? I’m flattered. Who missed me the most?” </p><p>“Probably Sam. He likes you.” </p><p>“He finds himself so charming that he doesn’t notice when it isn’t working on someone else. Besides, you all like me, how is he so different?” </p><p>“All right, fine. Steve missed you the most and he’s the one who couldn’t help but visited you. He felt guilty, but he was sore about you and John for weeks before that, he just didn’t say anything because you really liked him. He also had no place to say anything about him.” </p><p>“You’re right. It wasn’t his business, but I soon found out how much of it should have been someone’s business other than my own. I mean, who goes to meet a man a few hours away after knowing him for only a few weeks without telling anyone my exact location or given a general idea about what activities we might be out doing. I set myself up for this failure. I was set up for automatic failure and it was simple for John to gain that access to me and to draw me out.” </p><p>“Jane, this guy was bad. It isn’t your fault he got to you... Steve thought he saw all the signs leading towards this guy being okay, but he missed crucial ones he’s been fighting to see ever since you had disappeared. He knew if he couldn’t convince you to let him tag along, you wouldn’t be convinced to not go at all. If you think it might be best to let someone know what’s going on with you the next time you plan to take a trip, then let it be him. Both of you have lost a little mojo.” </p><p>“I’m afraid I won’t be going anywhere for a while.” </p><p>“I don’t blame you… Do you want something to eat?” </p><p>“Desperately. What is your specialty?” </p><p>“Pancakes.” </p><p>“Sounds good…” </p><p>He took out the mix and started getting to work. </p><p>“So, Bucky. Tell me about this singles’ night,” you said with a smirk on your face and the corner of his mouth turned up at your words.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's been too long. :/</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You worked diligently for the next few weeks with team members coming to see you normally again. Everyone was happy to see you and you made the appointment all about them the best you could. You hardly wanted to talk about your issues with everyone let alone the few people who already knew. You were going to therapy every week to work through the trauma and then physical therapy to strengthen your body even though it felt like you were making no progress. Your cane was trusted, and your legs were wobbly. </p><p>The day Steve had his appointment, you tried your very best to look stronger than you were. </p><p>“Hello, Steve. How are you today?” you asked, sitting up straight and giving him a warm smile. </p><p>“Not good. News isn’t great today,” he said as he seated himself and gave you a look which matched his tone. </p><p>“I’m sorry, I only checked the news thirty minutes ago, what’s going on?” you asked, now slightly worried. </p><p>“There was a bomb like others HYDRA has used that went off in Mexico. Thirty people died. Nat, Sam and Wanda all went to check it out.” </p><p>“Really? That’s a lot of people. Why do you think it happened?” </p><p>“Targeting? Testing? Maliciousness? I’m not sure.” </p><p>“All of the above.” </p><p>“Most likely... How are you?” </p><p>He asked you every day how you were, and you wondered if you would ever tell him any different from the usual ‘good’. </p><p>“Better,” you offered the acceptable answer which he took, probably at face value because he was smarter than many people gave him credit for. He simply nodded and you went on asking him questions about his activities and how he kept busy since the last time he had an appointment with an HR representative. </p><p>The meeting went well, and you were positive he was about to leave when he continued sitting in the chair across from you. You looked up at his eyes staring back at you and he had a somewhat proud look on his face. </p><p>“When are you going to be honest about what this is like for you? You keep saying ‘good’ like we’re always all going to accept that answer. If you really are good, then I’m shocked because no one I know is “good” so soon after losing some of their physical abilities they have always had.” </p><p>“What do you want me to tell you then?” </p><p>“The truth. Don’t you trust me?” </p><p>You paused for a few moments. </p><p>“...fine. The truth is I’m having a hard time coping. Naturally, I can’t seem to comprehend that my body may never be the same again and if it does go back to what it was originally, then I’ll call it a miracle. No one can do any more than they are already doing. I’m trying my best, but my best just might not be enough. If you want more insight, you’ll have to schedule another appointment because I don’t feel like discussing it any further.” </p><p>He looked a little guilty after that. You could hardly help but be bothered at people prying. He was the only one who did it with any necessity behind it, which might have made you feel different about him being the one asking but it did not. You would try to be honest with him from now on since that was what he wanted but you were trying to remain guarded. What did he want after all these weeks of you being back aside from honesty? </p><p>“Jane, I-… I don’t mean to irritate you. I just-” </p><p>“I know, Steve, but I hardly know what’s going on.” </p><p>He nodded and you glanced at your watch, sighing. You looked at him, tired and his face read the same.  </p><p>“Will you help me walk to my room?” you asked. </p><p>“Of course. Are you done for the day?” </p><p>“Yeah, saved the best for last,” you said, and smirked. </p><p>He gave you a smile back and stood up. It was so easy for him, Mr. Regeneration. </p><p>You did the best you could not to shake as you used your cane to stand, pushing your chair back and using your desk as well. </p><p>“They never could figure out what was in that syringe?” he asked, watching you with a grimace. </p><p>“I’m not in pain, Steve, relax. And no, it’s “outer worldly” they said,” you replied in irritation. </p><p>You reached for his elbow when he put it out for you. You leaned on him and it felt good relying on someone to help you since struggling with your cane was tiresome. Maybe you needed a walker instead. By the time you both made it to the double doors opening to the bridge you were unsteady, so Steve put his strong arm around your waist to keep you tall. You glanced up at him and wished it were as easy for you to get better as it was for him. </p><p>“Do you want to have dinner together?” Steve asked looking back at you. </p><p>“What were you thinking?” </p><p>“Uh… cooking?” </p><p>He had an adorable look on his face like this was a last-minute idea and maybe not the best one. </p><p>“You cook?” </p><p>“I’m terrible at it actually. Years of opportunity and I can only barely make toast. There hasn’t been much of a need for me to ever learn especially after the Army and the serum.” </p><p>“People have always cooked for you?” </p><p>“My mom, then Bucky after she died and then the Army all fed me before I went in the ice and then after the ice it was all takeout and work cafeterias. I’m just glad FRIDAY stocks the fridge with sandwich things or I’d be dead.” </p><p>He opened the double doors and led you into the common area and over to the counter seats in the kitchen section. </p><p>“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to cook then if you hardly know how.” </p><p>“You can teach me,” he suggested. </p><p>“What makes you think I know how?” </p><p>He gave you a look of amusement as you made yourself comfortable in the swivel chair. </p><p>“I guess I didn’t think... well okay then, let’s do something else for dinner. How about I just order something.” </p><p>“Are you afraid of going out?” </p><p>Steve looked at you and the room lost a little of its cheeriness. You looked at your hands and then your cane understanding fully how he might feel about going out. He moved to the other side of the counter and leaned on it. </p><p>“Not afraid, Jane, just cautious. I’d like to cut my losses.” </p><p>“I can’t blame you there...” you said quietly and then asked, “What should we order?”</p>
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